Avodah Mailing List
Volume 01 : Number 017
Monday, August 10 1998
Subjects Discussed In This Issue:
Date: Sat, 8 Aug 1998 23:50:32 -0400
From: sroth4@juno.com (Paul Rothbart)
Subject: Re: Avodah V1 #16
>Date: Sat, 8 Aug 1998 23:36:14 -0400 (EDT)
>From: Shalom Carmy <carmy@ymail.yu.edu>
>Subject: Rambam on writing Mishna
>
>To the best of my knowledge Rambam does not speak of Rabbi "writing"
>Mishna in any of his Hebrew works. The word he uses in Arabic is not
>ka-ta-ba. Despite translations it could just as easily be rendered
>"composed"=hibber, rather than katav.
THe Rambam in his introduction to Mishneh TOrah says that until the time
of Rebbi each talmud chacham would write for himself private notes of the
things he had heard and then teach orally to the people. It was Rebbi who
changed this and allowed the Mishna that he had " composed" to be taught
to the public and allowed for the public to all make written copies of
this Mishna. This was the first time in Jewish history that there was a
large distribution of Torah SHebaal Peh in writing for the general
public.
Shraga ROthbart
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Date: Sun, 9 Aug 1998 02:24:42 -0000
From: "Levi" <levi10@enter.net>
Subject: Levi
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Date: Sun, 09 Aug 1998 11:54:11 +0300
From: Robert Werman <rwerman@vms.huji.ac.il>
Subject: Re: Avodah V1 #15
Ari Z. asks about the shape of the tablets Moses
brought down from Sinai. The Gemara [BB?] tells
us about dimensions but not about shape and nor
in what sense they were "two." Also we don't
know if the shape of the second set, the one we
had, was the same as the first set.
In fact, our picture of them is based, as he points
out [See articles by Prof. Gad Zarfati] on Medieval
Xian sources.
Before they assumed the shape we are familiar with
from drawings and engravings, earlier versions were
without the superior arc, being rectangular. In fact,
the earliest representations showed Moses carrying two
physically separated tablets.
__Bob Werman
rwerman@vms.huji.ac.il
Jerusalem
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Date: Thu, 6 Aug 1998 11:37:43 -0400
From: alsilberman@juno.com
Subject: Re: Luchos
On Thu, 06 Aug 1998 "Ari Z. Zivotofsky" <azz@lsr.nei.nih.gov> wrote:
> I am looking for traditional Jewish sources that offer the size and
shape of
> the luchas. It is clear that the famous rounded that we are all
familiar with
> is a product of medieval Christian European art. I am fairly sure that
there
> is a gemara that gives their dimensions so that they could fit in the
aron
> and assumes they were shaped like blocks (elongated cubes - not sure
what the
> technical name would be).
The discussion of size, shape and contents can be found in Bavli Bava
Basra 14a and in Yerushalmi Sheqalim sixth pereq, halacha 1. See the Eyn
Yaaqov in Sheqalim for a very lengthy description.
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Date: Thu, 6 Aug 1998 11:25:16 -0400
From: alsilberman@juno.com
Subject: Re: Nishmas
On Wed, 5 Aug 1998 micha@aishdas.org (Micha Berger) wrote:
> The tephillah opens "*Nishmas* kol chai tivareich es shimcah,
*viruach* kol
> basar..." My first question was what happened to *nefesh*? The normal
triad
> (the aspects/parts of the soul that are penimiyos, internal to the
self) are
> nara"n, nefesh, ruach and neshamah -- but only two are represented
here.
This question is discussed in the Emden siddur. His answer, based on the
Zohar, is that the "additional" nefesh leaves at the conclusion of the
Shabbas with no remaining influence for the rest of the week while the
"additional" neshama and ruach leave an imprint past the Shabbas.
Since the subject of "Nishmas" was raised I was curious about a
statement which R' Berel Wein makes on one of his tapes that there is a
tradition that Nishmas was written by St. Peter. I have not seen it
elsewhere and am curious if anyone has ever seen or heard this mentioned
elsewhere.
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Date: Thu, 6 Aug 1998 11:14:23 -0400
From: alsilberman@juno.com
Subject: Re: Nesivos Olam
On Wed, 5 Aug 1998 Mordechai Torczyner <mat6263@is.nyu.edu> wrote:
> 2. Does anyone have access to the "Nesivos Olam" that the Rashash is
> quoting there? I assume he doesn't mean the Maharal's NS"A.
I did a CD ROM search of the Maharal's Nesivot Olam and cannot find a
discussion about putting the Mishna into written form. Thus, Mordechai's
assumption seems to be correct.
What I did find in researching a sefer by this name is the following (The
Rashash doesn't quote the sefer only refers to it).:
Someone by the name of Stanislav Hoga (died 1860) translated a book by
the name of "Old Paths" from English into Hebrew which acquired the title
of "Nesivos Olam". "Old Paths" was written by a British Missionary A.
MacCaul and is a critique of Judaism. The translation was done in 1839.
The Encyclopedia Judaica under the entry for Isaac Baer Levinsohn (died
1860) says that he wrote a sefer called Zerubbavel. "It was written as a
reply to Netivot Olam... Levinsohn demonstrates McCaul's ignorance and
the unfairness of his attacks on Judaism. He explains the evolution of
Oral Law from the Written Law ... The book served to modify the hostile
views about the Talmud and rabbinical literature which were often held by
the followers of the Haskalah".
See both entries for the biography of the people involved. It is possible
that the Rashash is referring to this book.
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Date: Sun, 09 Aug 1998 17:52:49 PDT
From: "TS Rush" <traci17@hotmail.com>
Subject: Bal Tsuvah Help Request for Chevrusa to learn with weekly.
Aishdas,
My name is Simcha. I have recently joined the avodat group. However,
while I have significant background in Torah learning, I am embarrassed
to admit that to the extent I am able to learn in a way which would
allow reciprocal exchanges to this particular effort is clearly limited.
I am able to read, write and understand Biblical Hebrew (Chumash) to an
extent that only a limited need to consult a dictionary is necessary.
However, my Gemorrah learning is severally at a marked deficit, though I
have had a good deal of learning in that we learned babah mitzeyah. I
would be tremendously grateful if I could acquire an on-line Chevrusah
for study of a number of various areas of Jewish Learning. Please
E-mail your reccommendations to
traci17@hotmail.com. Todah Rabah.
Very truly yours,
Reb Simcha Shimone Rutchik
(Mr. Tracy Stephan Rutchik)
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Date: Mon, 10 Aug 1998 09:37:52 -0400
From: cbrown@bestware.com
Subject: Re: dina demalchusa dina
The opinion of most Rishonim (Rambam, Meiri, Ritva, see the sugya) is that
dina d'malchusa DOES apply to jewish kings in Israel as well based
(possibly, see Nimukei Yosef) on the gemara and Sanhedrin which lists the
rights of a melech. See also Shut Dvar Avraham, which I think is one of
the major sources on this topic. As for avoiding taxes, Joel Rich's
comment >>>I think the gist was that this could be an interesting example
of "If there's a halachic will, there's a halachic way"<<< is a bit of a
harsh dismissal of a number of legitimate achronim, e.g. see Shut Yechave
Da'at chelek 5 who opines that dina d'malchuta does apply in Israel but the
governemt has no right to levy takes on talmidei chachamim (gemera, Baba
Batra) hence it is just "dina d'malka", the Ritva's expression for law
which is a whim of the king rather then a legitimate statute. This raises
a few issues: (a) do democracies, particularly the Israeli gvt., have the
status of malchus (b) can one classify oneself as a talmid chacham (c) are
laws of the malchus that are rational binding if they contradict halacha,
e.g. if the U.S. gvt. enacts a tort that contradicts a din in nizikin,
aside from the problems of appearing before a secular court, would anyone
argue that I am not bound by the law in as much as it contradicts halacha?
I'm not holding in the sugya to even begin to know answers. As for the the
Bais Shmuel that holds dina d'malchusa is derabbanan, note Avnei Miluim who
says its d'oraita.
-Chaim B.
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