Parshat Vayetze - Ein Mearvin Simcha B'simcha and Sheva Brachot

A thought on Parshat Vayetze that I recently printed in a Kuntress names "Katal Imrati (כטל אמרתי) In honor of our daughter Talia Rachel:

Shabbat Shalom

A Fantastic P'shat from R' Nosson Gestetner zt"l

On the bus home from work yesterday, I was going through a teshuva from a sefer called "L'Horot Natan" from R' Nosson Gestetner zt"l (vol. 11 siman 9). The teshuva outlines exactly how bad it is to bring your cell phone to shul and use it to speak in the middle of tefilla (an unfortunately relevant topic these days).

Perhaps we'll get back to cell-phone-related halacha at some point soon (I have more to say on the topic), but for now I wanted to share an absolutely beautiful idea that R' Gestetner adds parenthetically in this piece.

The Shulchan Aruch (O.C. 83:3) rules that one should go to daven after having learned a clearly defined halacha. R' Gestetner uses this ruling to offer a novel explanation to the Gemara in Brachot (31a) that one should take leave of his friend "mitoch" (lit. "from within") a d'var halacha.

I am including the first page of the teshuva (it continues on the next page in the sefer) and highlighted the section to which I am referring.

I didn't have time to translate, but his language is pretty clear. Enjoy it - I certainly did.

Remembering Rav Shach zt"l

Today, the 16th of Cheshvan, marks the 10^th anniversary of the passing of Rav Elazar Menachem Mann Shach zt”l, the great gaon and Rosh Yeshiva of the Ponevezh yeshiva in B’nei Brak and author of the Avi Ezri on the Rambam.

I never had the privilege of meeting Rav Shach in person, but when he died I took the opportunity to pay a shiva call to his only son, Rabbi Dr. Efraim Azriel Shach z”l (who lived in Jerusalem until he passed away just before Sukkot of this year).

Dr. Shach had a very interesting story – much of which is well known by now. After learning in some of the finest Yeshivot in Israel at the time, he went on to join the Irgun and later went to University in North America. He ultimately returned and spent much of his professional career filling senior positions in the Israeli Ministry of Education. Suffice it to say that he didn’t exactly fit the assumed mold of the son of the Ponovezh Rosh Yeshiva.

I was at the beginning of my second year of learning in Yeshivat Hakotel at the time, and so one afternoon in the week of shiva during my lunch break, I hopped in a cab with a Rebbe from the Yeshiva and friend. Together the three of us made the short trip to the other side of the city to visit Dr. Shach.

We walked into a very welcoming but simple apartment. I was immediately struck by the large painting on the wall depicting Rav Shach davening with tallit and tefillin.

The apartment was busy with visitors, but not overly crowded. Dr. Shach patiently and warmly gave his full attention to each and every one of his visitors – weather he had met them previously or not (we didn’t even realize that R’ Zalman Nechemia Goldberg was sitting right next to us while we waited for our turn!).

When it was our turn to approach Dr. Shach he told us about his time spent in the United States as a faculty member and administrator in the Yeshiva of Flatbush. He joked with my friend who was a graduate of MTA – “we used to beat you guys in basketball all the time!”. 

He also shared some stories about his great father.  Dr. Shach related that once while he was in the New York, he wrote his father a letter marveling at the huge skyscrapers in Manhattan. His father responded that he was unimpressed by such physical, temporary things. “After all”, wrote Rav Shach to his son, “these buildings could fall to the ground in an instant” if Hashem willed it so. Being that the events of September 11, 2001 were not even two months behind us at that time, this particular vignette gave us goose bumps.

Dr. Shach also recalled how one morning he and his father were together in Rav Shach's apartment in B'nei Brak. His father was eating a piece of dry toast for breakfast and learning Rambam. Dr. Shach asked his father if he would like something with his toast - perhaps some butter or jam. Rav Shach looked at his son as if he was speaking Chinese. "I don't understand what you mean" replied Rav Shach, "I am having Rambam with my toast". Dr. Shach said that this response from his father was 100% serious.

A few months after my visit with Dr. Shach, he came to Yeshivat Hakotel at Rav Bina’s invitation to address the student body as a whole. In a moving display, Dr. Shach implored us to put all of our efforts into the study of Torah and keeping of the mitzvot. Dr. Shach explained that as his father taught him – everything in this world is rooted in and connected to the Torah. For a Jewish person there can be nothing that exists outside of this reality. Dr. Shach with all of his “other” pursuits and accomplishments in this world taught us that at the end of the day the Torah is the umbrella that encompasses everything in life.

This was the message of Rav Shach as told by his only son.

In this politicized and polarized world, many disagreed with Rav Shach on one issue or another. But perhaps on this, his tenth yahrtzeit, we can all agree on his bottom line - that for us Jews the Torah was, is and always will be the center of our lives.

O.C. 1:1 - Am I Allowed to Sleep In????

The Shulchan Aruch and Rama begin with what looks like some words of encouragement for getting going in the morning:

יתגבר כארי לעמוד בבוקר לעבודת בוראו, שיהא הוא מעורר השחר הגה: ועכ"פ לא יאחר זמן התפלה שהצבור מתפללין 

At first glance this looks like a pep talk of sorts to encourage getting up early in the morning as well as a reminder from the Rama that you need to at least get up to daven with the community (I know this is not an exact translation of the Rama - but we'll leave it at this for the time being) . There is nothing in this short formulation of the Shulchan Aruch that makes us think that there is an actual obligation to wake up early in the morning.

The Tur however elaborates and gives us a different impression:

 לכן צריך האדם להתגבר כארי לעמוד בבקר לעבודת בוראו ואף אם ישיאנו יצרו בחורף לאמר איך תעמוד בבקר כי הקור גדול או ישיאנו בקיץ לאמר איך תעמוד ממטתך ועדיין לא שבעת משנתך התגבר עליו לקום שתהא אתה מעורר השחר ולא יהא הוא מעירך כמו שאמר דוד ע"ה עורה כבודי עורה הנבל וכנור אעירה שחר אני מעיר השחר ואין השחר מעיר אותי... ואם אינו יכול להשכים קודם אור הבוקר מכל מקום התפלה אשר היא מועד לכל חי אל יאחר אותה ויחשוב בלבו אילו היה בעבודת מלך בשר ודם וציוהו להשכים באור הבוקר לעבודתו היה זהיר וזריז לעמוד לעבודתו כאשר ציוהו כ"ש וק"ו בנו של קל וחומר לפני מלך מלכי המלכים הקב"ה

When reading this Tur, I get the strong impression that getting up early is actually a full-fledged obligation. At the beginning of his comments the Tur clearly adds the word "tzarich" - "one must” work hard to get up in the morning.

Also at the end of his comments, the Tur introduces a parable for emphasis – “One should think in is heart that if he was serving a king of flesh and blood who commanded him to wake up early in the morning to begin his service, one would be careful to do so… How much more so with regards to the service of Hashem”.

It is difficult to understand this mashal of the Tur unless we say that just as this human king is commanding his subjects to wake up early, so too Hashem is commanding us to do so – the lesson being that we must be at least as careful with the commandments of Hashem as we would be with the commandments of a mortal king. 

The question then is, what is the source of this obligation to get up? How does the Tur know that we must wake up so early in the morning? 

Maybe the Tur answers this question himself in his continuation where he quotes support for this idea from the passuk/Gemara about David HaMelech: 

עורה כבודי עורה הנבל וכנור אעירה שחר - אני מעיר השחר ואין השחר מעיר אותי 

David HaMelech set a precedent of waking up early in order to serve Hashem. It is this precedent that obligates us to wake up early to serve Hashem as well. 

I found what sounds like a second answer in the Prisha (in his commentary to the Tur here). The Prisha suggests that since the obligation to say shema and daven begins and sunrise, a person must obviously wake up before then and be prepared (the Prisha then ties this into the reference to David HaMelech – take a look inside there).

Regardless of how you understand it, it seems clear from the Tur that a Jew is expected to wake up as early as he can (ideally before sunrise) to start his service of Hashem. 

One final point worth mentioning is that in general we assume “zereizin makdimin l’mitzvot” – One should hurry to perform a mitzvah at the earliest possible time. It seems that the Prisha is starting to go in this direction with regards to getting up early to get ready for tefilla, but I have not found anyone of the major poskim apply this principle anywhere in this context.

This last question not withstanding, the bottom line seems to point to an obligation (on some level) to get out of bed and start your day as early as possible. 

[After posting, I found support for this idea (that there is an actual obligation to wake up early) in other sources as well. The Biur HaGr"a here quotes several sources discouraging sleeping during the morning hours. One of those sources is a Mishna in Pirkei Avot that says that sleeping during the day is one of the things that removes a person from this world.

While most mefarshim explain this to be referring to one who sleeps past the time for kriat shema and tefilla, the Sefat Emet (in his commentary to Gemara Sukka 26b) seems to explain that the Mishna is prohibiting sleep in the morning since there is an obligation to recite Shema and Tefilla right away, similar to the approach of the Prisha discussed above].

I'm Back

Shavua Tov.

I am inclined to start by quoting a cultural icon from my youth who once proclaimed simply and famously - "I'm Back". 

I too "am back" in a sense. Not that I ever really went anywhere, but as far as this blog goes, I have been absent for a few weeks and hope that with this post we're back into the swing of things.

Just a reminder to my multitude of readers - for the most part the content of the blog will revolve around the Shulchan Aruch - matters of halacha and minhag. I also intend to post Divrei Torah on the Parsha and Holidays and possibly other random ideas and musings as they come to mind. 

I will continue to try and blog by the words of wisdom that my father continues to remind me of to this day - before opening your mouth, be sure what you are about to say is an improvement over silence.

 

Brief Blogging Hiatus

At the outset, I maintained that I would not be posting to this blog just for the sake of posting... The goal was to post content that I felt was worthwhile.

The last 8 weeks for us have been exciting - Baruch Hashem we've welcomed a new daughter - Talia Rachel - into the world and into our family. This, combined with a busy few weeks at the office have kept me from having the time to keep up with the blog. Instead of just trying to quickly throw something together, I opted to wait until things settled down a bit.

Time permitting and G-d willing, I will try to pick it up again soon.

In the meantime, G'mar Chatima Tova to you and yours

Shabbat Nachamu

Last year at this time I was just arriving in New York for a visit/some meetings for work.

I was graciously invited by the Rav of my in-laws' shul - R' Moshe Rosenberg - to speak briefly Shabbat morning. The following is a summary of the idea I shared with everyone in shul.

Shabbat Shalom.

The Purpose of Man's Existence according to R' Chaim Volozhin

As we mentioned previously, The Gemara teaches us that the second Beit Hamikdash was destroyed as a result of sin'at chinam - hatred for one another. 

On the topic of our interaction with others, I think the following source speaks for itself:

In the introduction to sefer Nefesh Hachaim, one of the son's of R' Chaim of Volozhin tells of the rebuke that he would often hear from his father regarding the treatment of others:

[My father] would often rebuke me upon seeing that I did not concern myself with the suffering of others. And this is what he constantly said to me: 'This is the entire [reason for the existence of] man - [man] was not created for his own sake, but rather [man was created] only for the purpose of assisting others to the best of his abilities'.

The 3 Weeks - Sin'at Chinam

This time of year, the issue of "sin'at chinam" - baseless disrespect and even hatred for others - receives much attention. Many of us are aware that Chazal teach us that it was none other than sin'at chinam that caused the ultimate destruction of the second Beit Hamikdash.

I just wanted to offer the following observation on the actual source of this Chazal. The Gemara in Yoma (9b) says:

מקדש ראשון מפני מה חרב? מפני שלשה דברים שהיו בו: עבודה זרה, וגלוי עריות, ושפיכות דמים…אבל מקדש שני, שהיו עוסקין בתורה ובמצות וגמילות חסדים מפני מה חרב? מפני שהיתה בו שנאת חנם.

The Gemara clearly says that the first Beit Hamikdash was destroyed because the Jewish people were violating the prohibitions of idol worship, illicit relations, and murder. And then the Gemara asks: But what about the second Beit Hamikdash in which the Jews were constantly involved in Torah, Mitzvot and Gemilut Chasadim (acts of kindness to one another)?? There, the reason for destruction was sin'at chinam.

What is fascinating about this Gemara is that it says explicitly that the generation that lived during Bayit Sheini was constantly involved in gemilut chasadim, and yet the reason that was singled out as the cause for the ultimate destruction was senseless hatred. How can both be true??

I'll admit that I have not had a chance to look at the mefarshim, but off the cuff I would say the following: 

You could answer that these opposite behaviors were directed at different people - they were nice to their family and friends and showed hatred to others. This might be the p'shat here.

However, it is also possible that the Jews of that time really were consistently involved in gemilut chasadim towards everyone in the community and they did not discriminate.

The issue then was that they outwardly performed acts of kindness to one another, but this kindness was superficial at best. It was not done with the intention of sincerely making another person feel good or really trying to feel the pain of a neighbor. Beneath the surface, there was still cynicism, criticism and even hatred.

Perhaps the avoda of the 3 weeks is to try and make our gemilut chassadim a little more sincere and make sure it is not just superficial acts that make us look good to others.

The Rambam writes in (Hilchot De'ot 6:3) that one of the ways to fulfill the mitzva of "v'ahavta l'reiacha kamocha", is to speak nicely about someone else (see the Pri Megadim in Eshel Avraham O.C. 156. Also see Sefer Hachinuch #343 for a possibly different approach). 

According to the Rambam, it isn't enough for one to just perform the act of kindness itself, but rather one is obligated to also try to sincerely develop kind feelings towards his friend and express these feelings to others. The mere expression of these feelings indicates a level of sincerity and also helps to etch these positive feelings into the psyche of the one expressing them.

In terms of practical application, I was thinking that it might be a bit awkward to suddenly start going around complimenting everyone, so I thought it might be better to start small. The Gemara (Kiddushin 40a) clearly says that the mitzva of  v'ahavta l'reiacha kamocha applies to one's spouse, so maybe that is a good place to begin... 

Talk about a good deal - sincerely compliment your wife (or husband) and you gain not only brownie points, but a mitzvah d'orayta as well, and you bring us that much closer to the next Beit Hamikdash.

Not too bad.

O.C. 1:1 - The Great "Modeh Ani" Debate #2

Yesterday, we presented two ways to understand the focus of Modeh Ani that we say in the morning. According to the Shelah Hakadosh it is our way of saying thank you to Hashem for returning our neshama in the morning. According to the Ba’al Hatanya however, it is in order to instill an awareness of Hashem’s presence in our hearts and behave accordingly.

This provided us with a nice understanding as to "what" Modeh Ani is, but we still need to answer the question of "Why" -  Why do we thank Hashem for the return of the neshama in the morning (according to the She'lah) and why do we immediately recognize Hashem's presence when first open our eyes (according to the Ba'al HaTanya)?? 

I've heard many times from Rav Soloveitchick's students (and also read myself) that the Rav believed very strongly that all legitimate minhagim have their roots in a documented halachic precedent. There is no such thing as a minhag that comes out of thin air. It must be rooted in a "kiyum" - a fulfillment of an existing halacha. So what is the halachic precedent for saying Modeh Ani?

This was actually bothering me since the last post and after a little more research, I would like to propose the following.

The Gemara and Poskim discuss other Halachot that are relevant first thing in the morning. In fact, the Rama opens his comments in Shulchan Aruch by presenting passuk "shiviti Hashem l'negdi tamid" - I always place Hashem before me. From the moment a person wakes up a person should feel and recognize Hashem's presence. 

The Rama himself in his opening words to Darkei Moshe (his commentary to the Tur) explains further that this is based on the Rambam in Moreh Nevichim (3:52) who writes that the fulfillment of "shiviti Hashem l'negdi tamid" begins immediately when one wakes up in the morning by reminding one's self that Hashem's presence permeates the whole world. This will help the person get up quickly and keep this perspective the whole day. 

This clearly appears to be the halachic precedent for Modeh Ani according to the Ba'al HaTanya. The minhag to say Modeh Ani was started as a way to effectively facilitate the fulfillment of "shiviti Hashem l'negdi tamid".

The She'lah HaKadosh on the other hand, might be pointing to something else entirely. 

There is another bracha that we say in the morning that sounds very similar to Modeh Ani - namely the bracha of "Elokai Neshama". In Elokai Neshama we also acknowledge that Hashem is in control of the neshama and manages its whereabouts.

The interesting thing about Elokai Neshama is that it is a bracha that ends with a "Baruch" but does not start with one. The rishonim pick up on this and debate the reason why this is so.

Some rishonim (like Tosafot in Brachot) understand that Elokai Neshama is a "Birkat Hoda'ah" - a bracha to thank Hashem for something, and we find other instances where brachot such as these do not require a "baruch" at the beginning. Other rishonim  (like the Tur, the Rosh) hold that this bracha doesn't begin with Baruch because it is a bracha ha'smucha l'chaverta - it is meant to be combined with the recitation of Asher Yatzar, thus making the first Baruch of Elokai Neshama unnecesarry.

Finally (and most relevant to our discussion), there is the opinion of the Ra'avad an the Meiri who agree that Elokai Neshama is a bracha ha'smucha l'chaverta, but they feel that is is actually to be combined with the bracha of Hamapil - the last bracha one should recite before falling asleep! Even though one has slept several hours in between, the bracha of Elokai Neshama is actually a direct continuation of Hamapil and therefore does not require its own Baruch at the beginning.

We see from the Ra'avad that ideally, Elokai Neshama should be said immediately upon waking up in the morning. The only problem is that it is very difficult to maintain so much time in between the two brachot without a hefsek (interruption). Therefore, the bracha of Elokai Neshama was moved to be connected to the bracha of Asher Yatzar instead.

I saw quoted in the name of Sefer "Mas'at Kapi" (by R' Dovid Kahn) that this opinion of the Ra'avad may be the basis for the minhag to recite Modeh Ani. Since we no longer say the actual bracha of Elokai Neshama in the ideal time (i.e. immediately upon awakening), a custom started to recite Modeh Ani which closely resembles the theme of Elokai Neshama without actually being a bracha.

I believe that this explanation explains the opinion of the Shelah Hakadosh very well. The Shelah Hakadosh explicitly says that the focus of modeh ani is acknowledging Hashem's kindness in returning our neshama. It would make sense then, that this is being done in place of the Elokai Neshama that should have been recited but was moved to later in the day for the reasons cited above.

In summary - perhaps we have found the halachic precedent we were searching for and the root of the disagreement between the Shelah and the Ba'al Hatanya. The Ba'al Hatanya holds that by reciting Modeh Ani we are fulfilling our requirement of  "shiviti Hashem l'negdi tamid"  as outlined by the Rama and the Rambam.

The Shelah HaKadosh on the other hand understands that Modeh Ani is meant as a non-bracha replacement for the bracha of Elokai Neshama that should have been recited immediately upon awakening (according to the Ra'avad), but cannot be recited for technical reasons of hefsek.

O.C. 1:1 - The Great "Modeh Ani" Debate #1

To most people, the name R’ Moshe ben Machir probably doesn't ring a bell. He was a great Rav and kabbalist who lived in Tzfat in the 16th Century and was a contemporary and student of the Ariza"l and R' Yosef Karo. He is slightly better-known for his work entitled “Seder Hayom”.

The cover page of Seder Hayom describes the sefer as a “very pleasant commentary to the tefillot”. Perhaps this line was written out of modesty, because in truth, the sefer appears to be much more than that. I would say that it is one of the first time-management-for-dummies books ever written.

As the author himself writes in his introduction, time is a very precious gift from Hashem. Just as a person is meticulous with the way that he spends his money with constant budgeting and calculating, so should a person handle his time. Every moment is precious and every waking moment in one’s day should be filled with productive behavior. It is for this reason that R’ Moshe ben Machir wrote the Seder Hayom - to serve as a guide for how to productively spend time each day from the moment one wakes up until the moment one goes to bed at night.

I don’t know how many people have a “seder” in learning “Seder Hayom” (pun intended), but he is quoted from time to time in more contemporary poskim and therefore you might actually be more familiar with his teachings than you think.

In fact, in all likelihood you recall one of his teachings each and every day, because his sefer appears to be the source for saying Modeh Ani when you wake up in the morning. Many people mistakenly think that the “Modeh Ani” nussach that we recite in the morning is a din in the gemara or the poskim. The truth is that it does not appear in this form anywhere in Chaza”l, the Tur or Shulchan Aruch. It appears that the origin is the second paragraph of the Seder Hayom:

The Seder Hayom does not appear to give any explanation as to why we are saying Modeh Ani in the morning, but rather just provides us with instruction to recite it.

There are (at least) two approaches in the later poskim as to what the purpose of this recitation is.

According to the She'lah Hakadosh in his siddur, the reason we say Modeh Ani is in order to thank Hashem for giving us back our neshama. After returning our neshama to Him full of sin the night before, Hashem in His infinite kindness returns it to us in the morning:

The first Lubavitcher Rebbe (R' Shneur Zalman of Liadi) however, has a seemingly different approach to Modeh Ani. He writes in his siddur (named "Torah Or") that by saying Modeh Ani, one is recognizing that Hashem is before him and this helps the person immediately get out of bed:

We'll leave it at that for now. There is much more to say on the topic - bli neder in the next post.

Parshat Pinchas - Inheriting Eretz Yisrael

The beginning of Parshat Pinchas tells of a census that Hashem commanded Moshe and Elazar HaKohen to take of B'nei Yisrael. After counting the people, Hashem begins outlining the eventual division of Eretz Yisrael among the tribes, families and individuals. 

I will admit that in the past, I basically just skimmed through this part of the parsha without much attention. This week though, I noticed an absolutely amazing Rashi (which I will paraphrase for clarity and convenience).

If you read this section of the parsha (Bamidbar 26:52-55) carefully, you will notice that in a span of 3 pesukim Hashem seemingly gives 2 different directives as to how the land should be divided  (I am only including English text since the Hebrew is not cooperating at the moment).

In pasuk 53-54 Hashem says that a portion of the land is given to each individual person. Therefore, the more people entering the land from a given shevet, the more land is given to that shevet to divide:

 "You shall divide the Land among these as an inheritance, in accordance with the number of names: To the large [tribe] you shall give a larger inheritance and to a smaller tribe you shall give a smaller inheritance, each person shall be given an inheritance according to his number."

Then, in the very next pasuk (pasuk 55) Hashem says that the division of the land is somehow based on the number of fathers in the previous generation who left mitzrayim.

"Only through lot shall the Land be apportioned; they shall inherit it according to the names of their fathers"

So which one is it - is the land to be divided by accounting for every individual entering the land, or is the land divided up by looking back a generation in order to divide it per-father who left mitzrayim (in other words, one equal portion per family and not per individual)??

Rashi explains - both. The nature of the inheritance of Eretz Yisrael is unique and different that all other inheritance. When it comes to Eretz Yisrael, not only do living descendants inherit from their deceased ancestors, but the departed ancestors actually inherit from the living descendants as well.

How so? It went line this:

First, the land was split up among all of the individuals who were actually entering the land to live there. Once every individual received his portion on paper, something amazing happened - the land was then "bequeathed" to the deceased ancestors and essentially divided up per family that left Mitzrayim.
Only then was it returned to back to the living individual children and grandchildren who were entering the land.

Practically, nothing changed in the end result - every individual received his portion when all is said and done. For some reason though, the process of inheritance could not be completed without the deceased ancestors becoming brief owners of the land themselves and then passing it back to their children.

The obvious question is why?? Why would Hashem want to involve the previous generation in this process? Why the need for this generation to posthumously become owners of the land and only then pass it down to their children who were to live there???

I think the message here is clear - although the generation that left Mitzrayim did not enter Eretz Yisrael personally, it was in their merit that their children were able to do so.
Yes, the actual acquisition and settling of the land was going to be done by the individuals living there, but without the efforts of the previous generation,this opportunity would have never been realized. The generation that left Mitzrayim had its ups and downs in the desert, but at the end of the day this was the generation to leave Mitzrayim and accept the Torah.

Perhaps Hashem's intent here is to tell the Jewish people as follows: Although your parents didn't make it into Israel, don't think that you could've done it without them. Realize what kind of efforts they made on your behalf. Appreciate the zechut avot from which you are benefiting.

Perhaps this is why the land had to first go through the hands of the generation that left Mitzrayim and only then could it be received by their children.

I would just add that while Rashi is clearly talking specifically about those generations, I think the same message remains true today. Many generations before ours were never zoche to visit, let alone live in Eretz Yisrael. But perhaps it is due to their tefillot and merits that we, their childen, are able to do so today.

Shabbat Shalom.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

Related Links to Audio Shiurim

I have come across some audio shiurim that relate to issues we've disussed in previous posts. I thought it would be worthwhile pointing them out:

In this post we discussed the issue of having your internet business run on Shabbat. R' Elon Soniker recently gave a series on the topic. I've found 2 parts so far: Part 1   Part 2

[FYI - I found the following summary (in shorthand) of Part 1:  "Websites on Shabbat? Looks at 3 types: 1) informational only (e.g. Shul website); 2) deferred sales (widgets to be delivered in the future); 3) immediate sales (download computer programs). Well, what’s the issue for Shabbat? (Rashi in Beitzah) I) business prohibited under Mmtzoh Cheftzocha; or II) maybe you’ll come to write because of the transaction.
Mishneh Brurah says must be “obvious” that it’s business for internet so: I) wouldn’t be a problem; II) might be. Detailed discussion of time clocks/zilzul issue (but leaves out R’HS unique shitah based on “new” text of Rambam). Another issue – What if ownership action takes place on Friday but on condition that it not take effect until Shabbat day.]

Also on this topic, R' Assaf Bednarsh gives a shiur on these issues here.

We also have been discussing Machon Tzomet's solution to oil drilling on Shabbat. I mentioned R' Rozen's acknowledgement of the controversial nature of his institution's approach and the critique it has received from other halachic authorities.

I was told that R' Dovid Miller discusses this debate here.

Full disclosure - I have not yet listened to any of these shiurim so I cannot comment on the content.

243:1 - Drilling for Oil on Shabbat #3 - Response from Machon Tzomet

After sending my letter to Machon Tzomet last week, I received a brief response from R' Rozen via email. He basically assured me that there are no non-Jews working in the drilling site on Shabbat and the oil flows totally on its own.

I responded again by stressing that the non-Jewish presence at the site was not the focus of my question and that it was mentioned only to illustrate a possible concern with the current setup.

I have not yet received a second response... 

Two additional updates on this front are actually a tag-team assist from my sister and brother in law (Shira & Chaim). Chaim summarized some very good points for and against the Machon Tzomet solution for oil drilling. I've included his comments at the end of the post. Shira actually attended a shiur from R' Rozen the other day and subsequently spoke to him about the issues we raised. R' Rozen reportedly made 2 interesting comments:

1. He acknowledged that Machon Tzomet's approach in general is somewhat controversial and has historically been the source of disagreement with other Rabbinic authorities
2. He confirmed what we suspected in previous posts - the reason for the media coverage was to try and mitigate the possible mar'it ayin factor. This may be a chiddush as we pointed out, but it does seem to make sense.

Chaim's comments are as follows:

Parshat Balak - Non-Jewish Nevuah

A quick thought on the Parsha as Shabbat approaches...

Rashi (22:5) quotes from Chazal (I will paraphrase due to time constraints) - why did Hashem give the non-Jews (i.e. Bilam) nevuah? So that the nations of the world cannot claim that if they would have had the power of nevuah they would have done complete teshuva; here Hashem gave them nevuah and it actually made matter worse (since Bilam encouraged illicit relations amongst the people).


But isn't there a follow up claim that the non-Jews can make?? Granted "Bilam harasha" is not going to encourage any teshuva, but if they had a star like Yirmiyahu or Yechezkel hanavi, maybe they would have indeed lead lives of avodat Hashem!

Perhaps this itself was Hashem's answer to the world - real teshuva and self improvement is not dependent on a Navi or anyone other than yourself. Each and every individual need to work on himself and improve the areas of his life and his avoda that require this improvement.

This Shabbat is the yartzeit of our grangmother Rivka Rachel bat Mordechai Reinitz a"h. She was a woman of refined character who clearly understood this and worked on herself all of her life.

May this Shabbat grant her neshama an aliya in shamayim.

Shabbat Shalom

Juggling Priorities

A friend sent me the following thought from R' Shabtai Rappaport (for those of you who do not know who he his, you can read up on him here).

All of us face the challenge of balancing our time and our priorities in one way or another - learning, working, family, time for ourselves etc. etc. R' Shabtai's essay is a refreshing perspective on this issue and can be a great source of chizuk for those (like me) who (Thank G-d) face this challenge daily.

243:1 - Drilling for Oil on Shabbat #2 - My Letter to Machon Tzomet

In light of the issues we began discussing here I sent a letter to Machon Tzomet yesterday outlining my questions. I am posting a copy of the letter here:

They responded with a brief note telling me that the letter would be passed to Rav Rozen's desk for further review and follow-up.

Cool.

243:1 - Drilling for Oil on Shabbat

We've previously discussed some of the halachot pertaining to keeping a business running on Shabbat (See here). We mentioned that a central criterion for allowing/disallowing a business to run on Shabbat is the chance that people will get the wrong impression and suspect the Jewish business owner of wrong-doing (a.k.a. "mar'it ayin").

If the business is known to belong to Yossle and it is located in the heart of the Jewish community, it may not remain open on Shabbat no matter how many kosher arrangements are made previously with the non-Jewish workers or partners since we assume other members of the community will misunderstand when they see activity on Shabbat afternoon.

From my cursory review of these halachot it seems that the only ways to avoid running into this problem is to make sure your business is situated well outside the confines of the Jewish community or alternatively to make sure that no one knows it's a Jewish-owned business in the first place.

Theoretically though, there seems to be another solution. What if everyone knew that it was a Jewish business and it was situated in a Jewish area, but you had a way to make sure everyone knew that your business was being run in a permitted manner on Shabbat? It seems that if you could somehow avoid the possibility of such a misunderstanding through publicity and ensure that everyone in the community was on the same page then this concern would fall away.

This brings me to a real-world example I saw in the news today. Givot Olam is an Israeli gas and oil exploration firm. They are currently in the process of drilling for oil in the Megged 5 oil well near Rosh Ha'ayin in Israel.

An article in last week's news publicized the company's announcement that the drilling would continue on Shabbat - without violating a single melacha.

Together with Machon Tzomet, the company has come up with a way to automate the drilling process on Shabbat with the use of timers and other technologies, making human intervention for those 24 hours a week unnecessary.

While I am sure the experts at Machon Tzomet have their bases covered, I am still curious as to how they deal with the issue of mar'it ayin discussed by the poskim. Granted, no melachot are violated with the arrangement outlined in the article, but it would seem that there is still a big chance for mar'it ayin. After all, it is a Jewish-owned well that is operating in Israel on Shabbat...

My first thought was that this is the reason for including the media in the first place - maybe the publicity itself is their solution to the mar'it ayin. If everyone knows what's really going on, there is no chance for misunderstanding. In practice though, this does not seem like a fool-proof solution to the problem and it is likely that most of the country will not be aware of this.

Not quite sure I know what to make of it. Maybe I'll get in touch with Machon Tzomet to discuss this a little more at length. I'll also try to look into the halacha one more time to make sure I didn't miss anything...

Great Index for Torah on the Web

I stumbled across an amazing resource on the "Halacha Berura and Birur Halacha" website.

It is basically an extensive web-index with links to hundreds (maybe even thousands) of free sefarim and other Torah resources available online. The index lists 36 main categories ranging from "mefarshei Tanach" all the way to "siddurim" and biographical material on various personalities.

At first glance, it looks like most of the specific links take you to sefarim on hebrewbooks.org, but there is plenty of material from other places as well that might not be so accessible otherwise.

Also, the biggest downside to the Hebrewbooks site in my opinion is the challenge in finding a sefer when you are not 100% sure of the name of the book or the author. This index looks like a really great way to find things by category instead. Enjoy.

http://www.halachabrura.org/alephlink.htm

Chodesh Tov

My Encounter with R' Michel Yehuda Lefkowitz zt"l

After a long blog hiatus due to my travels, I want to take the opportunity to reflect briefly on R' Michel Yehuda Lefkowitz zt"l - the Rosh Yeshiva of Ponovezh who passed away yesterday.

I met R' Michel personally on 2 occasions - The first was a quick, private meeting in his home while seeking a Bracha on Chol Hamoed Sukkot. I was in Yeshivat Hakotel at the time and a friend visiting from chu"l asked me to go with him to B'nei Brak to "make the rounds" and visit the big Rabbanim who were available.

The second and last time I met with R' Michel was about 7 years ago when R' Ilson took the yeshiva on a shabbaton to B'nei Brak. On Friday, we visited several prominent Rabbanim in B'nei Brak and R' Michel's simple home was one of our stops.

He greeted us warmly and invited us to come in and sit with him in his study. He was very excited when he was told that we were students from chutz la'aretz and told us he was reminded of a Gemara at the end of Brachot (63b):

 תנו רבנן: כשנכנסו רבותינו לכרם ביבנה היו שם רבי יהודה ורבי יוסי ורבי נחמיה ורבי אליעזר בנו של רבי יוסי הגלילי, פתחו כולם בכבוד אכסניא ודרשו. פתח רבי יהודה ראש המדברים בכל מקום בכבוד תורה ודרש: ומשה יקח את האהל ונטה לו מחוץ למחנה, והלא דברים קל וחומר, ומה ארון ה' שלא היה מרוחק אלא שנים עשר מיל אמרה תורה: והיה כל מבקש ה' יצא אל אהל מועד, תלמידי חכמים שהולכים מעיר לעיר וממדינה למדינה ללמוד תורה - על אחת כמה וכמה

One who leaves his home to study Torah is a "Mevakesh Hashem" - one who is actively seeking Hashem. Coming to Israel to learn Torah is not only a privilege and a responsibility, but also a badge of honor that the talmid should be proud of.

I am not well-versed in R' Michel's writings, but I believe this brief encounter characterizes the thousands of opportunities taken by the Rosh Yeshiva to positively encourage talmidim during his lifetime

243:1 - Can My Website Work For Me on Shabbat?

Siman 243 discusses if/how a non-Jew can work a Jew's property or business on Shabbat. The issue boils down to 3 main factors:

1. Is the non-Jew working on Shabbat because the Jewish owner encouraged him to do so? 
2. Is the Jewish owner profiting directly from the work being done on Shabbat? 
3. Will others in the community suspect that the work is actually being done by the Jew or by the non Jew at the Jew's request?

If the answer to any of the above is yes - then you should be closing up shop for Shabbat, but depending on the specifics, there is room to be lenient.

An interesting application of this halacha that I came across is with regards to a Jewish-owned website that is open for e-commerce on Shabbat. Is this allowed? Should the Jew close down the website on Shabbat because of any of the aforementioned concerns?

I think that although the actual transaction is automatic, there is no real way to assure the e-customers that no one is actively processing the transaction on the other side. So if it is clear that the site is owned by a Jew, it is probably best to close the site for Shabbat or at least make it clear that nothing is actively happening for those 24 hours. This article on "The Internet and Halacha (in Hebrew) suggests offering the option to retract any transaction made on Saturday until after Shabbat to drive this point home to the customer. 

Also keep in mind that there might be other issues related to operating a web-business that is open on Shabbat... I am still looking into it myself and maybe we'll elaborate more another time. But still interesting to note that this seemingly irrelevant set of halachot has some very modern applications (even on a national scale)... 

The Greatness of Aharon HaKohen - Parshat Beha'alotcha

Life has been busy with Shavuot and all, so I hope to get back to Hilchot Shabbat next week. In the meantime, here's a quick thought on the opening pesukim of this week's parsha (from my notes, in Hebrew):

במדבר פרק ח' פסוקים ב-ג: "דבר אל אהרן ואמרת אליו בהעלתך את הנרות אל מול פני המנורה יאירו שבעת הנרות: ויעש כן אהרן אל מול פני המנורה העלה נרתיה כאשר צוה ה' את משה"

וכתב רש"י, "בהעלתך - למה נסמכה פרשת המנורה לפרשת הנשיאים, לפי שכשראה אהרן חנוכת הנשיאים חלשה דעתו, שלא היה עמהם בחנוכה, לא הוא ולא שבטו, אמר לו הקב"ה חייך, שלך גדולה משלהם, שאתה מדליק ומטיב את הנרות".

ודברי רש"י (מהמדרש) צריכים ביאור, דאיזו מעלה יש בהדלקת והטבת הנרות על הבאת קרבנות של הנשיאים. ועוד צריך להבין כפל הלשון בסוף דברי המדרש: "..שאתה מדליק ומטיב את הנרות", דלמה צריך להדגיש גם הדלקה וגם הטבה.

ונראה שחילוק גדול יש בין הבאת קרבנות הנשיאים ובין הדלקת נרות המערכה שבכל יום. שהבאת קרבנות הנשיאים בחנוכת המשכן היתה אירוע מיוחד בפני עם ועדה בהרבה התרגשות והתלהבות, ואלא הדלקת הנרות במקדש בכל יום היא עבודה יום יומית שאין העם רואים אותה, והיא נעשית בשקט ובצנעא בתוך ההיכל.

ולכן אמר הקב"ה לאהרן הכהן שהעבודה שלך גדולה משלהם, שהרי העבודה המרכזית של העובד את ה' אינה עבודה בפרהסיא וארועים גדולים ומיוחדים, אלא העבודה המרכזית היא העבודה היום יומית האדם עושה בתדירות ולפעמים אינה נראית כעבודה כלל וכלל.

וזהו מה שאמרו חז"ל שאהרון הכהן זכה גם להדליק וגם להטיב את הנרות - שהטבת הנר היא ההכנה והנקיון של הנרות וזה דבר מלוכלך ומשעמם לכאורה, ורצו חז"ל להדגיש שזהוא עיקר העבודה – לעבוד את ה' בכל יום בכל עת ובכל שעה בדברים שלא תמיד נראים הכי מתלהבים, וזהוא העיקר בעבודת ה'.

ונראה דלפי זה אפשר להבין דברי רש"י בהמשך הפסוקים, "ויעש כן אהרן - להגיד שבחו של אהרן שלא שינה". ולכאורה קשה, דאיזה חידוש יש בעשיית אהרן הכהן את מה שהיה מצווה לעשות מאת ה', הרי כל החיים שלו היו מלאים בקיומי מצוות ועבודת ה'!

ולפי דברינו יש לבאר שכאן השבח הוא שאהרן הכהן הניח את ההרגשה של חלישות הדעת על שלא השתתף בקרבנות הנשיאים ועשה את עבודת המנורה הפשוטה והצנועה מיד בלי שום טענה והיסוס, וכמשמעות הפסוק "ויעש כן אהרן" – מיד עשה מה שצוהו ה'. וזה שבח מיוחד לאהרן, שרצונו היה רק לעשות את רצון ה'.

242:1 - Ezra HaSofer's washing machine

The Shulchan Aruch writes that the takana of Ezra was “to wash one’s clothing on Thursday in order to honor Shabbat [with clean clothing]”. The Gemara in Babba Kama (82a) which serves as the source for this takkana of Ezra, is pretty much verbatim like the Shulchan Aruch says.

This general formulation leaves the door open for 2 differing approaches to understanding what the Takana was all about.

1. The Sha’ar Hatziyun (242:16) quotes the Eliya Rabba and others who understand that the main objective of the takana was to ensure that the Shabbat clothes were clean when Shabbat arrived. The reason for stressing Thursday was a secondary, precautionary measure to keep the erev-Shabbat schedule open for other things.
2. The Sha’ar Hatziyun further quotes the Magen Avraham who disagrees. According to the Magen Avraham, the main intent of Ezra’s takana was to stress that there should be no laundry done on Friday whatsoever. It was not intended to encourage people to clean their Shabbat attire. 

I think that these two approaches to understanding takanat Ezra have a very practical implication in this day and age: Doing laundry with a washing machine on Friday.

According to the Eliya Rabba, since a washing machine provides the clean clothes for Shabbat and still keeps your erev Shabbat schedule wide-open for other preparations, there is no apparent violation of takanat Ezra and this would seemingly be permitted.

According to the Magen Avraham however, Ezra’s takana was no laundry on Friday’s. Period. Apparently no matter how advanced your technology is, there is a Thursday night deadline for cleaning your clothing.

So, like many things in Halacha – I guess it depends who you ask.

P.S.- R’ Nevenzahl (in his comments to the Mishna Berura) writes that today one can be lenient to do laundry with a washing machine erev Shabbat.

R’ Nevenzahl continues by offering an explanation as to why we can forego the takana of Ezra when we usually assume that an official takana cannot be disregarded even if its core rationale is no longer relevant. But according to our understanding of the Eliya Rabba above, I don’t think you need to work so hard for a justification. According to these poskim, the core takana of Ezra was never intended to limit laundry on Friday, but rather to make sure you have clean clothes in a way which won’t overtake your erev Shabbat schedule. Seems like the washing machine is pretty much exactly what Ezra Hasofer had in mind.

Har Sinai = Har Hamoriya

Since we are celebrating Yom Yerushalayim today and we are just a few days before Shavuot, I thought it would be worthwhile pointing out an apparent connection between the two…

Har Habayit in Yerushalayim is otherwise known as “Har Hamoriya” (see Rashi to Bereishit 22:2). It is very interesting then, that Rashi and Tosafot in Ta’anit (16a) both explain that “Har Hamoriya” is none other than Har Sinai.

Along similar lines is a medrash I found in Otzar Hamidrashim Chuppat Eliyahu (pg. 174):

חמשה שמות נקרא הר סיני: הר חורב, הר סיני, הר המוריה, הר האלהים, הר חמד 

Does this mean that Har Sinai is actually Har Hamoriya?! Is Har Sinai actually located in Yerushalayim (against pretty much everything we've been taught)???

Perhaps the explanation is a fascinating Medrash Tehillim (mizmor 68:9):

ר' נתן אומר כיון שביקש הקב"ה ליתן תורה לישראל, בא כרמל מאספמיא, ותבור מבית אלים… זה אומר נקראתי הר תבור, עלי נאה שתשרה שכינה, לפי שאני גבוה מכל ההרים, ולא ירדו עלי מי המבול, וזה אומר אני נקראתי הר הכרמל, עלי נאה שתשרה שכינה, לפי שאני נתמצעתי בתוך, ועלי עברו את הים. אמר הקב"ה כבר נפסלתם לפני בגבהות שיש בכם, כולכם פסולים לפני, אמרו לפניו וכי משוא פנים יש לפניך, או שמא אתה מקפח את שכרינו, אמר להם הקב"ה הואיל והטרחתם לפני בשביל כבודי, אשלם לכם שכר, הרי נתתי להר תבור תשועה לישראל בימי דבורה…ובהר הכרמל תשועה לאליהו. אמר הקב"ה למה תרצדון, למה תרצו לדון עם סיני, הרים גבנונים אתם כלכם,… אין רצוני אלא בסיני שהוא שפל מכולכם…וסיני מהיכן בא, אמר ר' יוסי מהר המוריה נתלש, כחלה מעיסה, ממקום שנעקד יצחק אבינו, אמר הקב"ה הואיל ויצחק אביהם נעקד עליו נאה לבניו לקבל עליו את התורה, ומניין שעתיד לחזור למקומו, שנאמר נכון יהיה הר בית ה' בראש ההרים (ישעיה ב ב), אלו תבור וכרמל וסיני וציון, ההרים. ה' הרים, כלומר כמנין חמשה חומשי תורה

Indeed, Har Sinai is the top half of Har Hamoriya. It was removed from Har Habayit in Yerushalayim for the purpose of Matan Torah and will be returned to Yerushalayim, according to the Medrash, at some point in the future.

A Word About "Havara"

I grew up leaning, reading and davening with a "Havara Ashkenazis", which was and still is the norm in many communities in North America. The poskim seem to be in favor of sticking with the same pronunciation that was learned from one's parents, teachers and community (see Iggrot Moshe O.C. 3:5). Today, we really have no idea what the correct system of pronunciation is, and therefore it is probably best to stick to the minhag with which you were raised.

It is for this reason that I continue to read, learn and daven as I did when I was a young child and this has also been my usual preference when writing Divrei Torah in English.

I think that for the purposes of this blog, I will make the jump to transliterating the Hebrew words and phrases with havara Sefraradit ("Shabbat" for example, as opposed to "Shabbos"). I think this will just keep things clearer in the long run... (in any event, the whole discussion about preferred pronunciation seems to apply only to actual speech and not to the written word - see the examples quoted by R' Moshe in the teshuva I mentioned above).

242:1 - By Way of Introduction

By way of introduction to Hilchot Shabbat, I think it is important to take a look at…. the introductions to Hilchot Shabbat, provided by the Tur and the Beit Yosef at the beginning of siman 242.

The Tur opens his discussion quoting several passages from the Gemara (Shabbat 118b) that stress the importance of keeping and honoring Shabbat properly (translations are my own):

“R’ Yochanan said in the name of R’ Yosi: One who (properly) enjoys Shabbat is rewarded with boundless inheritance”

“R’ Nachman said: Such a person is even saved from oppression at the hands of foreign kingdoms”

"R’ Chiya bar Abba said in the name of R’ Yochanan: One who keeps all of the laws of Shabbat is forgiven for all of his sins, even if he is an idol worshiper”.

"R’ Yehuda said in the name of Rav: One who (properly) enjoys Shabbat is granted all the requests of his heart”

The Beit Yosef quotes Mahar”i Abohav who provides explanations to this list of rewards, as well as some important perspectives on Shabbat observance:

"…he is rewarded with boundless inheritance” – Since a person honoring Shabbat properly spends freely without boundaries in order to purchase the biggest and best for Shabbat, his reward is of a similar nature – inheritance and wealth without boundaries.

“…he is saved from oppression at the hands of foreign kingdoms”/“...he is granted all the requests of his heart” – His acceptance of the burden of Shabbat saves his from being burdened by foreign kingdoms. Furthermore, he is given anything his heart desires so that he will be able to then use these rewards for further Oneg Shabbat – enjoyment on Shabbat itself.

“…he is forgiven for all of his sins, even if he is an idol worshiper” – This person’s attempt to learn and keep the Halachot of Shabbat properly is a clear indication that his idol worship is void of any real meaning or intention. There is no better or more fundamental sign of one’s belief in Hashem than the observance of Shabbat and the study of its halachot.

Mission Statement

The objective of this blog is pretty straightforward. Thank G-d, I have been maintaining a seder learning with my father for as long as i can remember. Now that I have grown up a bit and become a "balabus" with my own family and my own set of daily responsibilities,  it is increasingly challenging to find consistent time to learn together, let alone trade ideas and insights on topics already covered.

After giving this much thought, a blog seems to me to be a tool that can be of some use. Insights and discussion on the topics covered can be logged here in an organized fashion, not bound to one busy schedule or another. The material is simply available, all in one place, 24 hours a day with a platform for commenting on and discussing each post.

We are currently tackling Hilchot Shabbat (from the beginning), so that will probably be the primary focus of the blog content, G-d willing. If this proves to be a convenient method of sharing Divrei Torah, I may throw in some posts relating to the Parsha, Moadim and other assorted topics ... we'll take it slow and see how it goes.

Since the blog is open to the public on the web, I figured I would do my best to keep the posts clear and accessible to a wider audience so that those who stumble upon the site may find something worth reading.

Goes without saying that nothing written here should be used as a basis for p'sak halacha. Whenever in doubt, please consult with a competent halachic authority. My aim here is to learn Hilchot Shabbat (and whatever else comes my way) as well as I can and share some thoughts l'hagdil Torah uleha'adira.