Avodah Mailing List
Volume 05 : Number 044
Tuesday, May 16 2000
Subjects Discussed In This Issue:
Date: Tue, 16 May 2000 01:28:54 -0400
From: Isaac A Zlochower <zlochoia@bellatlantic.net>
Subject: Calendar controversy article
Some recent comments about the drift of the luach with respect to the
seasons, particularly as it effects Pesach coming out in Spring, imply
that our calendrical reckoning is insufficiently reliable. Actually,
the difference between our 19 year adjusted lunar calendar of 235
months, and 19 solar years comes to 1 day in just over 216 years. The
earliest Pesach that has been quoted here was on March 25 in the 50's.
That still gives us some 650 years before Pesach starts prior to the
Spring equinox. Presumably, the day of the korban Pesach is the day
must be kept in the Spring month according to the verse in Re'ay (Deut.
16:1). In general, the calculation of the roshei chodoshim is
reasonably accurate with respect to actual sightings of the new crescent
moon. There may be a day difference on occasion, but some of the
discrepancy may disappear if we consider that actual sightings had legal
significanse only in Israel (when there was a Sanhedrin or qualified
Beth Din) and the new crescent is more easily observed appreciably west
of Israel.
The correspondance of the actual appearance of the new moon with the
traditional calculation is rather surprising considering the difference
between the mean molad that it is based on and the actual astronomical
lunar conjunction (when the moon is between the sun and the earth, with
the centers of the 3 bodies in the same plane). The latter state is
referred to as the "new moon" in the secular calendars, including the
ones available from the US Naval Observatory (check their website).
There can be more than a 16 hour difference between our calculated molad
and the astronomical one. That is why the dechiyot of our calendar are
vital in keeping the calendar accurate. This was observed already by
the Rambam in hilchot Kiddush Hachodesh with reference to the "lo ADU
rosh" rule despite the more practical reasons of food spoilage and body
deterioration given by Chazal. The practical reasons are not forever
germane (particularly in the age of refrigeration), but the need for
appropriate adjustments of the luach for the sake of accuracy are always
pertinent.
The Rambam also gives a realistic value for a typical time between the
astronomical molad and the first appearance of the crescent moon (24
hours). The value of 6 hours for Israel that is cited in Rosh Hashannah
20b is very strange. People who are experienced in looking for the new
crescent report an average of 17 - 23 hours for the earliest sighting in
the world under favorable conditions. The "record" for a credible
visual sighting is 15.5 hours more than a century ago when there was
less light and haze pollution. Under ideal conditions, sightings of
13.5 hours with good binoculars have been reported and even 12 hours
using a telescope. The use of the instruments helps in light gathering
- magnification is not an issue. There is also a small window of
opportunity to view the new crescent before it sets. Generally this
period is some 20 - 40 minutes after sunset. Before 20 minutes, the
western sky is too bright, and after 40, it may be past moonset. There
is an interesting website <moonsighting.com> that is run by a Muslim
amateur astronomer for religious purposes which features plots of
regions of the new crescent visibility. It can be seen that the new
crescent is more visible in the southwestern US than it it in the Middle
East (since the new moon is "older" and has moved more away from the sun
in the time difference between sunset in Israel and in the western US).
Muslims who rely on the actual sighting of the new crescent to start
their months are therefore faced with the problem of discordant
sightings in different parts of the world (the webmaster claims that all
the times proclaimed from Saudi Arabia are not actual sightings but
merely a reference to the astronomical molad). Fortunately, we have a
reliable calendar that unites world Jewry. When we, once again, will
have a Sanhedrin the sightings will be in Israel and that will determine
the new moon for all of Jewry (hopefully they will all be in Israel,
too).
Yitzchok Zlochower
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Date: Tue, 16 May 2000 07:57:07 -0400
From: "Shinnar, Meir" <Meir.Shinnar@rwjuh.edu>
Subject: Esav Sone l'Yaakov
This is from an article published by the gaon Rav Yosef Eliyahu Henkin in
1964 (Hapardes), repubished in Kitve Hagrya Henkin, vol 2, p. 239-240,
my translation
(parenthetically, in relation to another thread, Rav Henkin was one of the
few who managed to be recognized as a gadol without being affiliated with
any party)
And here I should repeat the the words of our rabbis: The Meiri, Be'er
Hagola, the gaon rav yaavetz, the noda biyehuda, the Tiferet Yisrael, the
aruch hashulchan and many, many more, that many of the nations have done
good to Yisrael and drew them near with arms of love (zro"ot ahava), and it
is forbidden for us to talk negatively (lesaper bignutam) in general, and
even more so not to distort the laws of nations who are "bound in the ways
of religion' (hagdurim bedarche hadatot), the language of the Meiri z"l.
and in general, the decrees and troubles come from individuals who captured
the power of government and forced the nation to go in their path. And when
righteous rulers arise, they turn trhe nation from evil to good. And it is
an evil mistake (ta'ut ra) in those who rely on the language of Hazal
"halacha she'esav sone leya'akov" to say so about everyone, because this was
said about Esav himself as it is written explicitly "vayistom esav" and not
even about his descendants, as it is written about them "lo teta'ev edomi",
and even more so about other nations, and only on the generation of the
desroyers of the temple was it said about his descendants. And the essence
of this statement of hazal comes to teach that even Esav himself, when they
treated him with submission, his hatred subsided, as it is explained in the
mikra. Those who speak evil about all the nations or an invididual nation
do a great evil, that through this they become complete haters and even more
people who put fear (matile eyma) and ally with the haters, that they are in
the category of the partner of "amalek" and his helpers, and about them it
is said that they are "spillers of the blood of Yisrael (shofche damim
miyisrael), that they help those who actively spill blookd, and this is a
sign that they have no real love of yisrael,and this did not happen in our
midst when Yisrael walked in the path of Torah, that their true love of
their nation overcame the feelings of anger and jealousy even to forgive
(levater) the greatest haters, and through this the evil was abated.
Meir Shinnar
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Date: Tue, 16 May 2000 08:28:18 -0400
From: "Rayman, Mark" <mrayman@lehman.com>
Subject: RE: Calendar Controversy Article
Micha writes:
>I assumed that in a "working calendar", the equinox is on or before the
16th.
>IOW, that the bit about tekufos (ibid. 4:2) had to do with computing
>the real calendar, not with defining the ideal.
I'm not sure what you mean here.
>This would mean that failure is if Pesach started before the 21st or 22nd
of
>March (depending upon the Gregorian leap year cycle) on the Gregorian
calendar.
Agreed.
>Similarly, if we are to define "chodesh ha'aviv" as the first such month,
an
>instance of having a single Adar and Shushan Purim was on or after the 21st
of
>March would also be a failure.
What emerges from this is that "chodesh ha'aviv" means the first month where
the 15th of the said month falls out after the tekufa.
And since Pesach is on the 15th, and Nissan in our calendar is always malei
(30 days), it turns out the first month on which rov of its days fall after
the tekufa is the chodesh ha'aviv.
So failure of our calendar would be if Pesach falls out (approx) before
March 21/22, or on or after April 21/22.
HOWEVER....
After rereading the rambam KH"C (4:1), I am no longer convinced. He says:
... and if it were not for the addition of this extra month, pesach would
fall out sometimes in the summer and sometimes in the winter.
Is the rambam here saying that failure is only when pesach falls before
march 21 or after June 21? Or is he just using a "reductio ad absurdum"
argument?
If we take the simple implication of the above rambam seriously, then
perhaps chodesh ha'aviv is only a general concept, meaning that we should be
mechashev chodashim and tekufos so that over time the solar and the lunar
calendars keep in sync, the sync point being pesach.
Vetzarich Iyun.
Moshe
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Date: Tue, 16 May 2000 15:30:58 +0200
From: "Carl M. Sherer" <cmsherer@ssgslaw.co.il>
Subject: Re: Calendar controversy article
On 16 May 2000, at 1:28, Isaac A Zlochower wrote:
In general, the calculation of the roshei chodoshim is
> reasonably accurate with respect to actual sightings of the new crescent
> moon. There may be a day difference on occasion, but some of the
> discrepancy may disappear if we consider that actual sightings had legal
> significanse only in Israel (when there was a Sanhedrin or qualified
> Beth Din) and the new crescent is more easily observed appreciably west
> of Israel.
How close does the Molad have to be to Rosh Chodesh? IIRC, in
Nissan this year, the Molad was sometime on Tuesday morning (in
Eretz Yisrael) and Rosh Chodesh was on Thursday. That struck
me as unusual....
-- Carl
Carl M. Sherer, Adv.
Silber, Schottenfels, Gerber & Sherer
Telephone 972-2-625-7751
Fax 972-2-625-0461
mailto:cmsherer@ssgslaw.co.il
mailto:sherer@actcom.co.il
Please daven and learn for a Refuah Shleima for my son,
Baruch Yosef ben Adina Batya among the sick of Israel.
Thank you very much.
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Date: Tue, 16 May 2000 07:33:01 -0500
From: Micha Berger <micha@aishdas.org>
Subject: Parashas Behar
I was wondering about the title word of the parashah "behar" -- "IN the
mountain" (25:1)? Are we saying that Mosheh Rabbeinu was in a cave at the time?
Or perhaps the pasuk is using the other sense of the prefix "bi-"; not to
mean "in" but rather "via". Still isn't intuitive... Are we saying that
Hashem spoke to Mosheh using har Sinai as a means? OTOH, that does seem to
be a possible implication of "Mosheh kibel Torah miSinai".
About the latter quote... I heard a connection suggested, although this is
a tad more derush than I was aiming for. According to the medrash most of
us learnt as kids, Har Sinai was chosen for mattan Torah because it wasn't
particularly noteworthy. Har Sinai represents anivus, being closer to a
molehill than an Everest. Mosheh Rabbeinu was av kol hanvi'im because he
was also the greatest in anivus. If we take the mishnah to be referring to
what Sinai represents, as opposed to the mountain itself, Mosheh actually
did recieve the Torah from Sinai, not just at Sinai.
The same would work here for "behar", Hashem spoke to Mosheh because Mosheh
Rabbeinu was in a stance of anivus. However, as I said, I was looking for
something less homiletic.
-mi
--
Micha Berger (973) 916-0287 MMG"H for 15-May-00: Levi, Behar
micha@aishdas.org A"H
http://www.aishdas.org Yuma 6b
For a mitzvah is a lamp, and the Torah its light.
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Date: Tue, 16 May 2000 09:09:30 EDT
From: C1A1Brown@aol.com
Subject: Re: Parashas Behar
<< I was wondering about the title word of the
parashah "behar" -- "IN the mountain" (25:1)? Are we
saying that Mosheh Rabbeinu was in a cave at the time?<
'Vayedaber Hashem el Moshe B'eretz Mitzrayim...'
'VaYedaber Hashem el Moshe B'midbar Sinai...'
Eleh hadevarim...B'ever HaYardein...'
I'm sure you can come up with more examples - it looks
like a common form used throughout the Torah. Nothing
special about this week's parsha.
-Chaim B.
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Date: Tue, 16 May 2000 09:03:09 -0500
From: "Yosef Gavriel and Shoshanah M. Bechhofer" <sbechhof@casbah.acns.nwu.edu>
Subject: Re: Calendar Controversy Article
I am coming in on this after a weekend in GN (B"H, a wonderful Shabbos), so
am a bit behind, but as RYZ noted, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, in a sicha, dealt,
in several ways, with the discrepancy between the Julian Tekufa (that of
Shmuel) and Pesach (i.e., that Pesach occurs during the Julian Winter). My
own perspective is that B"H the Gregorian Tekufa was accepted, and Pesach,
vis a vis the Gregorian Tekufa, is actually progressing towards Summer, but
will not be out of Spring for a long time.
Yosef Gavriel Bechhofer
http://www.aishdas.org/baistefila ygb@aishdas.org
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Date: Tue, 16 May 2000 09:06:52 -0500
From: Micha Berger <micha@aishdas.org>
Subject: Re: Parashas Behar
On Tue, May 16, 2000 at 09:09:30AM -0400, C1A1Brown@aol.com wrote:
: 'Vayedaber Hashem el Moshe B'eretz Mitzrayim...'
: 'VaYedaber Hashem el Moshe B'midbar Sinai...'
: Eleh hadevarim...B'ever HaYardein...'
: I'm sure you can come up with more examples - it looks
: like a common form used throughout the Torah. Nothing
: special about this week's parsha.
I think this use of behar is distinct, not part of a general idiom for how
geographic locations are given.
People stand in the middle of a country or a desert or a territory defined
by its relationship to a river. People, unless spelunking, do not stand
in mountains.
Throughout ma'amad har Sinai, Hashem is "al har Sinai", see Shemos 19:11,
24:16. But "vayhi Mosheh bahar" in 24:18 and "vilo alisem bahar" Dev 5:5.
I assume you would argue that the exception is made for HKBH, Who is more
"above" things than we are?
-mi
--
Micha Berger (973) 916-0287 MMG"H for 15-May-00: Levi, Behar
micha@aishdas.org A"H
http://www.aishdas.org Yuma 6b
For a mitzvah is a lamp, and the Torah its light.
Go to top.
Date: Tue, 16 May 2000 09:18:56 -0500
From: Micha Berger <micha@aishdas.org>
Subject: Re: Calendar Controversy Article
On Tue, May 16, 2000 at 08:28:18AM -0400, Rayman, Mark wrote:
: >I assumed that in a "working calendar", the equinox is on or before the 16th.
: >IOW, that the bit about tekufos (ibid. 4:2) had to do with computing
: >the real calendar, not with defining the ideal.
: I'm not sure what you mean here.
There are two levels here: the astronomical reality, and the proper
approximation. My assumption is that tekufos, which are quarters of the Julian
calendar, were only used as an approximation. That we are more concerned
with the relationship between Pesach and the astronomical equinox than we
are with that between Pesach and the begining of the tekufah.
To put it another way, a hypothetical successor to Hillel haSheini's
calendar could use a better approximation than the Julian calendar and
tekufos. Particularly since one would only create such a calendar because
a more precise approximation was necessary for Pesach to be in chodesh
ha'aviv.
I'm not as sure, though, about the molad. Which is more important when not
using re'iyah -- the actual time re'iyah would have occured, or using an
average, the molad, for the interval between actual lunations?
: What emerges from this is that "chodesh ha'aviv" means the first month where
: the 15th of the said month falls out after the tekufa.
I would change that to the equinox, as per above. But otherwise, yes.
: So failure of our calendar would be if Pesach falls out (approx) before
: March 21/22, or on or after April 21/22.
On the more close approximation, the Gregorian calendar -- or using a system
even closer than that. Hillel didn't have an ultraSparc crunching numbers under
his desk. We are able, assuming need arose, to use far more digits than
amora'im were.
: After rereading the rambam KH"C (4:1), I am no longer convinced. ...
: Is the rambam here saying that failure is only when pesach falls before
: march 21 or after June 21? Or is he just using a "reductio ad absurdum"
: argument?
I had assumed the latter, now I'm not so sure.
-mi
--
Micha Berger (973) 916-0287 MMG"H for 15-May-00: Levi, Behar
micha@aishdas.org A"H
http://www.aishdas.org Yuma 6b
For a mitzvah is a lamp, and the Torah its light.
Go to top.
Date: Tue, 16 May 2000 17:31:16 +0200
From: "Carl M. Sherer" <cmsherer@ssgslaw.co.il>
Subject: Re: Parashas Behar
On 16 May 2000, at 9:06, Micha Berger wrote:
> Throughout ma'amad har Sinai, Hashem is "al har Sinai", see Shemos 19:11,
> 24:16. But "vayhi Mosheh bahar" in 24:18 and "vilo alisem bahar" Dev 5:5.
I think those two use a kamatz under the beis instead of a heh
ha'yedia, but they are meant to refer to a known mountain (i.e. Har
Sinai).
> I assume you would argue that the exception is made for HKBH, Who is more
> "above" things than we are?
See Vayikra 27:34.
-- Carl
Carl M. Sherer, Adv.
Silber, Schottenfels, Gerber & Sherer
Telephone 972-2-625-7751
Fax 972-2-625-0461
mailto:cmsherer@ssgslaw.co.il
mailto:sherer@actcom.co.il
Please daven and learn for a Refuah Shleima for my son,
Baruch Yosef ben Adina Batya among the sick of Israel.
Thank you very much.
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Date: Tue, 16 May 2000 10:37:14 EDT
From: C1A1Brown@aol.com
Subject: Re: Parashas Behar
>People stand in the middle of a country or a desert or
a territory defined by its relationship to a river.
People, unless spelunking, do not stand in mountains.<
You won't necessarily find an idiomatic parallel in
our use of 'in' in English unless you translate as 'in
the place of the mountain', which I think is the
intent of the pasuk.
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Date: Tue, 16 May 2000 09:56:04 -0500
From: Micha Berger <micha@aishdas.org>
Subject: Re: Parashas Behar
On Tue, May 16, 2000 at 05:31:16PM +0200, Carl M. Sherer wrote:
:> Throughout ma'amad har Sinai, Hashem is "al har Sinai", see Shemos 19:11,
:> 24:16. But "vayhi Mosheh bahar" in 24:18 and "vilo alisem bahar" Dev 5:5.
: I think those two use a kamatz under the beis instead of a heh
: ha'yedia, but they are meant to refer to a known mountain (i.e. Har
: Sinai).
Which is how I transliterated. Still it's Mosheh being "*in* the mountain",
not on it.
:> I assume you would argue that the exception is made for HKBH, Who is more
:> "above" things than we are?
: See Vayikra 27:34.
Also, Moshe is "bahar". It doesn't necessarily say Hashem was too.
The other occurances of "bahar", those not referring to Mosheh and Har
Sinai, appear to be "in the mountain range of". For example, Yehoshu'ah 20:7
"biGalil bihar Naftali, vi'es Shichem bihar Efraim, vi'es Kiryas Arba hi
Chevron bihar Yehudah". "Al har Tzion sheshameim shu'alim hilchu bah" could
actually be a reference to them waking in and out of the caves of the har.
"Behar/bahar" is a far more rare idiom than "al har" or "al hahar". Excluding
the Mosheh behar Sinai references, it's roughly 211 to 3. I couldn't actually
find every occurance of "bah" or "im" that happened to refer to a mountain
without using the word har/harim/harei/etc...
-mi
--
Micha Berger (973) 916-0287 MMG"H for 15-May-00: Levi, Behar
micha@aishdas.org A"H
http://www.aishdas.org Yuma 6b
For a mitzvah is a lamp, and the Torah its light.
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Date: Tue, 16 May 2000 18:30:54 +0200
From: "Carl M. Sherer" <cmsherer@ssgslaw.co.il>
Subject: Re: Parashas Behar
On 16 May 2000, at 9:56, Micha Berger wrote:
> On Tue, May 16, 2000 at 05:31:16PM +0200, Carl M. Sherer wrote:
> :> Throughout ma'amad har Sinai, Hashem is "al har Sinai", see Shemos 19:11,
> :> 24:16. But "vayhi Mosheh bahar" in 24:18 and "vilo alisem bahar" Dev 5:5.
>
> : I think those two use a kamatz under the beis instead of a heh
> : ha'yedia, but they are meant to refer to a known mountain (i.e. Har
> : Sinai).
>
> Which is how I transliterated. Still it's Mosheh being "*in* the mountain",
> not on it.
>
> :> I assume you would argue that the exception is made for HKBH, Who is more
> :> "above" things than we are?
>
> : See Vayikra 27:34.
>
> Also, Moshe is "bahar". It doesn't necessarily say Hashem was too.
I think that "behar" in this week's and next week's parshiyos has a
shva under the beis and mentions the word Sinai, while the
examples you gave where Moshe was "bahar" have a kamatz
under the beis and do not mention the word Sinai. The examples
you mention mean that Moshe was (literally) in the mountain, while
the two with a shva indicate "at Har Sinai."
-- Carl
Carl M. Sherer, Adv.
Silber, Schottenfels, Gerber & Sherer
Telephone 972-2-625-7751
Fax 972-2-625-0461
mailto:cmsherer@ssgslaw.co.il
mailto:sherer@actcom.co.il
Please daven and learn for a Refuah Shleima for my son,
Baruch Yosef ben Adina Batya among the sick of Israel.
Thank you very much.
Go to top.
Date: Tue, 16 May 2000 19:11:29 +0300 (IDT)
From: Daniel M Wells <wells@mail.biu.ac.il>
Subject: What constitutes a zibbur
> From: "Yosef Gavriel and Shoshanah M. Bechhofer" <sbechhof@casbah.acns.nwu.edu>
> True. times have changed.
> The tzibbur is defined today as the collection of followers of sets of
> minhagim.
The dictionary defines the root of tzibbur as collection. But I fail to
see the connection with minhagim except in perhaps a very loose way..
> There is no other definition that can fit today.
I'm not so sure. The Israelis generally use the English word 'public' as
tzibur such as in Tachbura ziburit (public transport) - misrad avodot
tziburioyt (Public Works department) etc.
The frummer population tends to talk of tzibbur bnei torah or tzibbur
hanashim. And shuls will often refer to their congregants as 'hatzibbur'.
I have never heard it used in terms of minhagim - tzibur halitaim, tzibur
hahasidim or tzibur brisk.
Daniel
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Date: Tue, 16 May 2000 05:35:25 EDT
From: Joelirich@aol.com
Subject: Re: nashim mimaharin lamut
tosfot in ketubot (52a) mentions a Yerushalmi which states the above. I did
a quick cd search but was unable to find it; I assume he was quoting
conceptually rather than literally. Does anyone know where this(or a
similar) mortality concept appears?
Kol Tuv,
Joel Rich FSA
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Date: Tue, 16 May 2000 19:11 +0300
From: BACKON@vms.huji.ac.il
Subject: Re: Nashim *memaharot" lamut
See also the lashon of the Tosafot haRosh (Ketuvot 52a): "she'rov
nashim yesh lahen levura she'memaharot lamut yoter min ha'ish".
It's also in the Shitta Mikubetzet there as well. The Rambam
(Peyrush hamishnayot Niddah 5:6 d"h bat achat esrei shana, uses
the lashon: "ush
"ushnei hanekeiva l'onat nedarim pachot mi'shnei hazachar lihyot
chayeihen ketzarim mi'chayei ha'ish barov".
But Joel is right: I also didn't find it anywhere in the Yerushalmi !
Josh
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Date: Tue, 16 May 2000 12:32:46 -0400
From: Gil.Student@citicorp.com
Subject: Re: Nashim *memaharot" lamut
Today, women have lower mortality rates than men. Perhaps the Yerushalmi and
the rishonim were including death during childbirth which greatly increased
female mortality rates but is no longer as big an issue. Not that any of this
should necessarily change a halachah.
Gil Student
gil.student@citicorp.com
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Date: Tue, 16 May 2000 12:32:34 -0400
From: richard_wolpoe@ibi.com
Subject: Re: Yizkor (was switching gears)
>What IS the origin of saying Yizkor on any Chag?
The Taamei Haminhogim brings a few reasons from the Kav Hayoshor and
Noam Megodim. The Nitei Gavriel also quotes reasons from Maharil, Levush
and the Maaver Yabok (who gives a reason why davka Yom Acharon shel Chag).
He also brings (b'kitzur) from my late Rav and Rosh Yeshiva Rav Betzalel Stern z
t'l
in his Shu''t B'tzel Hachochmah (V4 121) - the question that we have been
askinghere
- ie Why is Yizkor said on Yom Tov - a day when one should not be Mits'taar?
He answers that they were not Choshesh for this tiny Tsaar ("m'at hamiut")
against the huge benefit that the Neshomos will gain from it.
SBA<<
--------------------------------------------------
AFAIK Yizkor was not said in Frankfort on chagim.
I was once told by a colleague that Yizkor originated with YK because they too
are nidon on YK, and it later on spread to the 3 regolim, If he si corect it is
a relative late minhag.
W/O seeing that Maharil, is it possible we was reeferring to YK only?
Do Sefardim or Italkim say Yizkor?
My impressoin has been that Yizkor on chagim would have originated about 400-500
years ago
Rich Wolpoe
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Date: Tue, 16 May 2000 12:40:31 -0400
From: Sammy Ominsky <sambo@charm.net>
Subject: Re: Yizkor (was switching gears)
richard_wolpoe@ibi.com wrote:
>
> Do Sefardim or Italkim say Yizkor?
>
No.
---sam
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Date: Tue, 16 May 2000 12:13:49 -0500
From: Micha Berger <micha@aishdas.org>
Subject: Re: ayin tachas ayin redux
On Fri, May 12, 2000 at 03:02:04PM -0400, RRW <richard_wolpoe@ibi.com>
quoted R Avi Weis, who (in part) asked:
: One wonders, however, if "eye for an eye" is monetary, why doesn't the
: Torah spell this out clearly?
It's a general question. If one must separate meat and milk even WRT hana'ah,
why does the Torah talk only about cooking, goats, and their own mother's milk?
Why is the esrog described, but not named? Why is the Avodah for Y"K not
described in sequence? Vechulu, vechulu...
I am therefore happier seeking out systemic answers than one particular to
this pasuk.
IOW, I take the answer (as translated by RAW):
: In the words of Ha-ketav Ve-ha-Kabalah "the Torah mentions here
: only what punishment the perpetrator of bodily injuries deserves."
... to mean that in general, the text of the Torah more describes the
aggadita of the mitzvah, its ta'am and mussar, than the din. Which is in
line with the majority of Torah sheBichsav, which relates mussar and
exemplars of behavior (both pro and con) in naarative form.
It also fits RSRY's approach to these non-halachically precise description of
the mitzvos. They are aggadically precise, however.
-mi
PS: Apologies if I already posted this opinion.
--
Micha Berger (973) 916-0287 MMG"H for 15-May-00: Levi, Behar
micha@aishdas.org A"H
http://www.aishdas.org Yuma 6b
For a mitzvah is a lamp, and the Torah its light.
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Date: Mon, 15 May 2000 12:18:51 -0400
From: "Markowitz, Chaim" <CMarkowitz@scor.com>
Subject: switching gears (TAanis Esther)
Actually it is a machlokes rishonim over what the main point of
Taanis esther is. I believe it is Rabbeinu Tam who holds that it is meant to
commemorate the fast before the milchama and it is a form of persumei nissa.
> The issue of Taanis Esther is not the purpose behind the Taanis, but the
> actual mood of a Taanis. On Taanis Esther, we say the same formula for
> selchot, Avinu Malkenu, Torah Reading etc. as on other public fasts.
>
> The calculated mood switch is still there.
>
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Date: Tue, 16 May 2000 14:27:49 -0500
From: Micha Berger <micha@aishdas.org>
Subject: Eisav and Yaakov
I wrote on Areivim:
:> One might argue that there is a difference between a person psychological
:> stance, and an existential statement. "Eisav sonei es Ya'akov" could be as
:> true as "tav limeisav" -- regardless of the layers of psyche above this
:> truth.
Jordan <TROMBAEDU@aol.com> replied there:
: As has already been demonstrated in a number of posts, the concept is easily
: misapplied. I find it quite difficult to read the medrash, or the famous
: Rashi quoting it, as an eternal rule for all of history.
My point was that once we accept RYBS's answer about the permanence
of "tav limeisav" we have ruled out the possibility of correlation
between any such rule and experimental data. (See avodah v4n349
http://www.aishdas.org/avodah/vol04/v04n349.shtml#12>.)
IOW, it might be that the greatest such misapplication is to take it as a
statement of behavior and psychology altogether.
-mi
--
Micha Berger (973) 916-0287 MMG"H for 15-May-00: Levi, Behar
micha@aishdas.org A"H
http://www.aishdas.org Yuma 6b
For a mitzvah is a lamp, and the Torah its light.
Go to top.
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