Avodah Mailing List

Volume 32: Number 7

Mon, 13 Jan 2014

• 1. Eating Fruit on Tu Bishvat (Prof. Levine)
• 2. Food for thought or Manna from Heaven (cantorwolb...@cox.net)
• 3. RSRH on Torah Study (Prof. Levine)
• 4. Fwd (Revach L'Neshama): Driving Tips from Reb Ahare'le of Belz (Micha Berger)
• 5. Amalek (Rabbi Meir G. Rabi, its Kosher!)
• 6. Re: Amalek (Zev Sero)
• 7. Re: Amalek (Lisa Liel)
• 8. Re: Amalek (Zev Sero)
• 9. electricity on shabbat (Eli Turkel)
• 10. A Small Part of RSRH's Commentary on Oz Yashir (Prof. Levine)
• 11. Re: Amalek (Micha Berger)
• 12. Re: A Small Part of RSRH's Commentary on Oz Yashir (Moshe Y. Gluck)
• 13. My Hiddur vs Enabling Orthers to do the Mitzvha; Ramban - Ahavah & Yir'ah (Micha Berger)

 From http://tinyurl.com/mv3m4fj

Since leaving Palestine, Jews throughout the world have maintained 
connections with the Land of Israel on Tu Bishvat by eating fruits 
produced there.

For the kabbalists [mystics], this symbolic gesture has tremendous 
spiritual ramifications. According to their explanation, every piece 
of fruit--which can be considered the parent generation--holds the 
seed of the next generation, in other words, the potential for new 
life. If, when we eat the fruit, which releases the seed, we do so in 
a holy way--with proper blessing and gratitude--then we are helping 
God to renew nature, and the flow of life continues.

Today, with Israel's agricultural richness and exports, we have many 
choices for Tu Bishvat feasting, in addition to the dried figs, 
dates, raisins, and carob of previous generations. Oranges, avocados, 
bananas, pomegranates, olives, and almonds are wonderful staples for 
Tu Bishvat meals, either in their natural forms or as recipe ingredients.

Creativity in connection with Tu Bishvat did not stop with the 
kabbalists' seder [a ritual modeled on that of Passover]. Colorful 
practices for eating, distributing, collecting, and even trying to 
influence fate with fruit developed, largely in 
Sephardic[Mediterranean Jewish] communities.

See the above URL for more. YL

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.aishdas.org/pipermail/avod
ah-aishdas.org/attachments/20140110/305ba6e2/attachment-0001.htm>

I have asked many people if they realized that the word Moshe in reverse is HaShem, the response 99% of the time (no exaggeration) has been
?No, I didn?t realize that,? and 90% felt a sense of ?Wow.? I say 90% because we know people who would say: ?So what?? and that?s 
fine, too. They?re entitled to their sardonicism.  But remember that Moshe was the closest to HaShem.
Now, I have another one that I did not realize until recently and I?d be curious how many of our colleagues also didn?t realize.
The word Minhag in reverse is Gehinnom. To me, that could say that if we reverse our practices and customs, they (the customs) will surely go to hell.  :-)

By the way G-d also created English and if you ?LIVE? in reverse, it may very well turn out ?EVIL.?      
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.aishdas.org/pipermail/avod
ah-aishdas.org/attachments/20140110/c34931ba/attachment-0001.htm>

The following is from RSRH's essay Shevat IV that 
appears in Volume II of his Collected Writings. 
Keep in mind it was written in the 19th century. YL

During the last few centuries, there were not too many formal institutions
for the study of Torah. Public institutions as we know them
today in the form of higher institutions of learning were few in
number. Students anxious to learn were not referred to institutions
but to personalities, and teachers and students alike were maintained
not by foundations but by individuals. Every "scholar," regardless of
whether or not he held a salaried teaching position, considered it his
first duty to teach, and to communicate his knowledge to others. And
since the study of Torah, like no other field of study, is dependent on
constant personal communication, on discussions and exchange of
ideas, the duty of lifelong study made it necessary for even the most
gifted to keep on "learning" in constant communion with fellow
students or with disciples of his own. To progress in the study of God's
Law was recognized as the sacred duty of every Jew, regardless of age
or status. Consequently, even those in trade or business reserved for
themselves "a fixed time" for "learning." Every Jew was expected to
attach himself to another student or to a teacher for "learning," and so
one could truly say that in those days the whole Jewish nation consisted
of teachers and students.

But even as every Jew considered it his duty to study and-if he
was able or asked to do so-to teach, so every Jew regarded it as his
duty to provide the means of existence for teachers and students alike.
Indeed, it was considered essential for the highest development of
Torah knowledge to see to it that there should be in every locality a
number of qualified men freed from all other occupational pursuits so
that they could devote themselves entirely to the teaching and the
study of Torah.

Torah teaching and the study of Torah were regarded as the
primary function of the Rabbi. These activities came first among the
duties of the office. It was a constant concern of each community to
support a group of students who studied with the Rabbi, thus constituting
a Yeshiva; Talmud Torah was the first chapter in the statutes of each
community.

As far as we know, the country in which this was developed to the
most advanced level was Moravia.* (*The author had served in Nikolsburg
as Chief Rabbi of Moravia, a province of the Austro-Hungarian Empire,
from 1847 until his departure for Frankfurt in 
!851.)There, every community, depending
on its size, was obligated to hire a Rabbi of its own for the dissemination
of Torah and to support a proportionate number of students.
If the community had too few members to be able to support a Yeshiva
of its own, it was expected to make an annual contribution to the
nearest? larger community that was in a position to maintain such
students. The educational endeavors of Moravian Jewry were headed
by the Chief Rabbi of the Province, who himself had to function not
only as a teacher of a large group of disciples but also directed Torah
studies throughout the province.
The Chief Rabbi decided each year which Talmudic tractate the
rabbis and students throughout the province would have to study
during that year. He also had to see to it well in advance that sufficient
copies of the tractate to be studied would be available, and, if necessary,
acquired or printed with funds from the general Jewish Provincial
Treasury.

These and similar activities were carried on to some extent in
almost every Jewish community. Aside from the schools for the education
of the young, there evolved three distinct types of institutions for
the teaching of Torah: Yeshivoth, Chevroth and Batei Midrash. In
Yeshivoth grown youths who still devoted almost full time to "learning,"
studied under the guidance of one particular master. Chevroth
were groups of business or tradesmen who gathered at set times to
"learn" together, with the members themselves alternating informally
as lecturers. Batei Midrash were premises, with well-stocked libraries,
which were lit throughout the night and heated throughout the winter
season and were open day and night, free of charge, to anyone who
wished to "learn." All these institutions owed their maintenance, for
the most part, to the cooperation and keen religious interest of the
community at large in? the study of Torah.

Regrettably today, Torah study is no longer a matter of general
concern; the Jewish people as such no longer uphold the study of
Torah. Personalities qualified to function as masters of Torah are few
and far between. Even fewer are those teachers who, thoroughly versed
in both Torah and Talmud, are knowledgeable as well in secular
matters and thus are capable of preparing Torah disciples to evaluate
science and nature in the true light of Torah. Such teachers must be
found. Arrangements must be made to help students desirous of study
to gather around the few masters that are available. Above all, we
must see to it that the younger students thoroughly master the
elements of Torah knowledge so that they will have the desire to go on
studying and the ability to make progress in their studies.
Thus, there is an imperative need today for the establishment of
formal institutions for Torah studies. If we were to wait until the
religious feeling for the teaching of the knowledge of God's Law will
be so universally widespread that the needed institutions could be
established with community-wide participation, we will have waited
so long that these institutions will no longer be relevant. Once there is
renewed interest in "learning," the study of God's Law will have
regained such a firm foundation that, while formal institutions would
still play a most beneficial role in Torah studies, they would no longer
be the only guarantor for the growth of Torah learning as they are
today.

Therefore, if we ask: What can we do for Torah? Our immediate
answer would be: "Learn!" We must establish institutions where
others may learn, but let us first begin with ourselves; Koveah itim l' Torah -
set aside fixed hours for Torah study. We must take up the study of
Torah as an integral part of our own daily pursuits, never to be eliminated
entirely from our daily schedule. Let us begin by breaking off a
set aside fixed hours for Torah study. We must take up the study of
Torah as an integral part of our own daily pursuits, never to be eliminated
entirely from our daily schedule. Let us begin by breaking off a
tiny but fixed segment of time from our daily business and dedicating
it to Torah, making this "offering" of our own time as a practical
application of the "shekel." We must set up formal institutions for
Torah learning, but let us first study ourselves and encourage others to
study.

For, in the final analysis, nothing else would really help. The best
institutions will not flourish, and teachers and students alike will fade
and go astray, unless the atmosphere in which they are to grow and
flourish, and the hearts of our people as a whole, turns again to the
knowledge of Torah.

If the desire for Torah is lacking, our institutions will turn into
"seminaries" attended only by youths who come there to study
also lack the bonds that bind the Torah student to the Jewish society.
He will remain isolated with his knowledge. His studies will have no
significance outside the lecture halls of the Yeshiva. There will be
neither an audience nor a need for his scholarly achievements. ,,:l::i
i1W1i1, the respect and appreciation for the knowledge of Torah, will be
lacking, that attitude which in days of old assured the Torah teacher
and student an honored position in society and the means of support
while he taught and studied.

Let each one of us remember that, when we will arrive in the world
to come, the first question put to us will be, "Were you
honest in your actions and in your dealings with others?" But the
question immediately following will be,  "Did you set
aside a fixed time for the study of Torah?"

Let us make an offering of that which in our own day and age is
even more valuable than money. Let us give our time as our contribution
of the shekel due to the Torah. If each one of us makes this contribution,
then our "tree of life" will begin to blossom again.

"Jewish theology" for the purpose of a future livelihood; they will
become training schools for clergymen but not places where the living
spirit of Torah will be furthered.
If the desire for Torah is lacking in the community, then we will
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.aishdas.org/pipermail/avod
ah-aishdas.org/attachments/20140110/fb6e740a/attachment-0001.htm>

From http://revach.net/article.php?id=5296

    Section: Hanhagos   Category: Segula

    Driving Tips from Reb Ahare'le of Belz

    Someone bought a new car and asked the Belzer Rebbe Reb Ahare'le
    for a Segula to ensure he will not get into any accidents on the
    road. The Rebbe offered him two tips. First said the Rebbe make sure
    you obey all the traffic laws and treat them as you would the Aseres
    HaDibros. Secondly, said the Rebbe, when you see people walking give
    them a ride and in the merit of the Chesed you will be protected
    from any harm. (Shevet HaKehosi 5:241:7)

A "segulah" we can all agree on?

It reminds me of the talmid who asked R Pam about setting up the Shabbos
lights as a segulah for Shalom Bayis. He suggested two segulos that (in
his opinion) were more effective -- watching the kids while your wife
was trying to cook, and never leaving the chulent pot for her to wash!

:-)BBii!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             "Someday I will do it." - is self-deceptive. 
mi...@aishdas.org        "I want to do it." - is weak. 
http://www.aishdas.org   "I am doing it." - that is the right way.
Fax: (270) 514-1507                   - Reb Menachem Mendel of Kotzk

If Amalek is evil and must be destroyed, why is it that Yehoshua is
commanded to not destroy them?

Why don't we find Dovid HaMelech or Shlomo HaMelech ever made war with
Amalek?
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.aishdas.org/pipermail/avod
ah-aishdas.org/attachments/20140112/535161d7/attachment-0001.htm>

On 11/01/2014 4:31 PM, Rabbi Meir G. Rabi, its Kosher! wrote:
> If Amalek is evil and must be destroyed, why is it that Yehoshua is commanded to not destroy them?

When was he commanded that?

> Why don't we find Dovid HaMelech or Shlomo HaMelech ever made war with Amalek?

Dovid did!  And he would have wiped them out, if Yoav had been taught
properly in cheder.

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

On 1/11/2014 3:31 PM, Rabbi Meir G. Rabi, its Kosher! wrote:
> If Amalek is evil and must be destroyed, why is it that Yehoshua is
> commanded to not destroy them?

> Why don't we find Dovid HaMelech or Shlomo HaMelech ever made war
> with Amalek?

Who says Yehoshua is commanded not to destroy them?

After the time of Shaul HaMelech, while there were surviving Amalekites,
they were scattered, and didn't exist in the form of a tribe or nation
that we could make war against. Notice that when Shaul led the attack
on them, they were settled enough to have a city.

Lisa

On 12/01/2014 4:47 AM, Zev Sero wrote:
> On 11/01/2014 4:31 PM, Rabbi Meir G. Rabi, its Kosher! wrote:
>> If Amalek is evil and must be destroyed, why is it that Yehoshua is
>> commanded to not destroy them?

> When was he commanded that?

Ah, I see you meant "vayachalosh Yehoshua".   But there are several problems
with your interpretation.  First and most important, destroying Amalek was
never an option at that time; the Jews were nowhere near Amalek's lands.
The only thing Yehoshua could have done and was told not to, was to kill
all the soldiers who participated in the attack on the Jews; that would
leave all the Amaleikim, men, women, and children, who were not part of
this military expedition.

Second, this was before the mitzvah of mechiyas Amalek was given, and
kiveyachol before Hashem decided to make it a mitzvah.  Maybe at that
point Amalke was still salvageable.

Third, even when it did become a mitzvah, it did not take effect until
there was a king.   The three mitzvos of appointing a king, fighting Amalek,
and building a BHMK, have to be done in that order.  So even if the mitzvah
had existed at the time, Yehoshua would not have been able to do it, any
more than he could build the BHMK.


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

Rabbi Jachter has a new discussion on the various opinions on using
electricity (without a filament) on shabbat. He discusses the teshuva of
Rav Asher Weiss in detail.
In 2 parts
http://www.tabc.org/kol-torah/index.aspx

-- 
Eli Turkel
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.aishdas.org/pipermail/avod
ah-aishdas.org/attachments/20140112/7126e2bd/attachment-0001.htm>

The following is from RSRH's commentary on Shemos 15:1

Then Moshe and the Children of Israel sang this 
song to God; they said: I would sing to God, how 
exalted, exalted He has been; the
horse and its rider has He thrown into the sea.

Ashirah, I would sing, I would like to find words that are worthy of
Him and that properly express my inner state of excitement.
How similar, and yet how different, are this opening of the Song at
the Sea and the opening words of the poems of the nations. Ashirah L'shem
? so much humility is contained in this opening and such devotion
to God! In their case, however, we find: ?Arma virumque cano? [?I sing
of warfare and a man at war,? the opening words of Virgil?s The Aeneid],
?Je chante ce h?ros? [?I sing of the hero,? from Voltaire?s Henriade I, 1],
etc. ? words that express the poet?s arrogance and self-centeredness.


----------
Question:  How many rabbonim can you name who 
have the knowledge to make a comment like this? YL
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.aishdas.org/pipermail/avod
ah-aishdas.org/attachments/20140112/f0ed8d80/attachment-0001.htm>

The Rambam, Hil' Melakhim 1:2 says "minui melekh qodeim lemilkhemes
Amaleiq". That would explain Yehoshua, even once entering EY. But it
makes the problem of how Shelomo built the bayis without mopping up
the survivors, since he continues "vehakhrases zera Amaleiq qodemes
levinyan habayis".

But back to Yehoshua... The Ramban, Shemos 17:14, also says "veyirmoz
ki acharei sheyirshu ha'aretz yimchu oso", continuing that the mitzvah
of 7 amim and securing the land is first.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             Life is a stage and we are the actors,
mi...@aishdas.org        but only some of us have the script.
http://www.aishdas.org               - Rav Menachem Nissel
Fax: (270) 514-1507

R? YL:
<SNIP>
 In their case, however, we find: ?Arma virumque cano? [?I sing
of warfare and a man at war,? the opening words of Virgil?s The Aeneid],
?Je chante ce h?ros? [?I sing of the hero,? from Voltaire?s Henriade I, 1],
etc. ? words that express the poet?s arrogance and self-centeredness.
________________________________________
Question:? How many rabbonim can you name who have the knowledge to make a
comment like this? YL


------------------


What difference does it make?

KT,
MYG

From http://beisvaad.blogspot.com/2014/01/yisro-mitzvos-according-
to-ramban-ahava.html
by R' Eliezen Eisenberg "Barzilai". Ayin sham, this is only the opener.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

Beis Vaad L'Chachamim
Divrei Torah of lasting value that require some thought.
Sunday, January 12, 2014

Yisro. Mitzvos According to the Ramban, Ahava and Yir'ah.

The Magen Avraham (658 sk 12 quoting Mateh Moshe, and in 671 sk 1
without attribution,) says that it is better that a person forego his
own Hiddur Mitzva in order to enable others to do the mitzva.  Here is
the case:

Reuven has the means to fulfill a Mitzva with Hiddur, with glory and
beauty.  There is another town where nobody can fulfill the mitzva at
all.  If he were to take some of the money he set aside for the mitzvah
and send it to the other another town, he would still be able to
fulfill the mitzvah adequately, but without hiddur.  The Magen Avraham
says [mutav], it is better that he choose the second option.  It is clear
from the Magen Avraham in 658 that this chiddush is not limited to
helping a tzibbur; the same is true for helping another individual to
do his mitzva. This is also mentioned by the Shaarei Teshuva in 671 sk
12.  (The Ben Ish Chai in his Tshuvos Torah Lishma argues and holds
that this is only true when you are being mezakeh a community, for [mitzvah
derabbim], but you can not give up hiddur for anything less than a mitzva
of another individual.  Others [Machaneh Chaim] whittle the Magen
Avraham's rule down to a toothpick because they basically don't agree
with him.)  The cases where the Magen Avraham tells us this rule are as
follows:
In 658 the case is that you have enough oil to light the Chanuka menora
with hiddur, increasing the number every night, but there is someone
who can't afford oil, or has no access to candles, then you should- not
must, should- split the oil with him, and you will each light just one
candle every night.
In 671 the case is that he has two hundred dollars.  Option One: He can
buy a splendid esrog, but his friend, who lives many miles away, will
have no esrog at all.  Option Two: He can spend one hundred for an
adequate esrog for himself and give the other hundred to his friend to
buy an esrog.  The Magen Avraham says he should choose Option Two.
If the Magen Avraham would only have quoted the Mateh Moshe in the case
of Chanuka, I would say it's a rule in Pirsum Haneis, publicizing the
miracle of Chanuka, so paying for someone else's candle is your way of
doing Pirsum, through the other person.   But he extrapolates from
Chanuka to Esrog, so the Magen Avraham takes it to be a rule of general
application.
There is a discussion in the Shaarei Teshuva that is somewhat related.
...


------------------------------


Avodah mailing list
Avo...@lists.aishdas.org
http://www.aishdas.org/avodah
http://lists.aishdas.org/listinfo.cgi/avodah-aishdas.org


End of Avodah Digest, Vol 32, Issue 7
*************************************

Send Avodah mailing list submissions to
	avodah@lists.aishdas.org

To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit
	http://lists.aishdas.org/listinfo.cgi/avodah-aishdas.org
or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to
	avodah-request@lists.aishdas.org

You can reach the person managing the list at
	avodah-owner@lists.aishdas.org

When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific
than "Re: Contents of Avodah digest..."


A list of common acronyms is available at
        http://www.aishdas.org/avodah/acronyms.cgi
(They are also visible in the web archive copy of each digest.)