Avodah Mailing List

Volume 33: Number 73

Thu, 07 May 2015

• 1. Re: long peyot ()
• 2. Re: long peyot (Marty Bluke)
• 3. Re: A woman is acquired ()
• 4. The Princess and I: Academic Kabbalists/Kabbalist Academics (Prof. Levine)
• 5. Shabbat microphones catching on among orthodox despite taboos (Prof. Levine)
• 6. Meron live (Prof. Levine)
• 7. Re: Meron live (Micha Berger)
• 8. Re: Meron live (Micha Berger)
• 9. Re: Meron live (Zev Sero)

 
From: Eli Turkel via Avodah  <avo...@lists.aishdas.org>

In some circles it is common for men to  keep long peyot (as an aside it has
become common also in some chardal  circles)

The book Keren Zavit says he doesn't understand the  custom....
-- 
Eli Turkel

 
 
>>>>
 
Yemenites have long payos, so this must be a very old custom, not some  
recent chumra.  They don't call them "payos" but "simanim," which I find  
charming.  They are signs that a man is a Jew, proud and obvious  signs.  
 


--Toby Katz
t6...@aol.com
..
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In addition to the points brought up by R' Eli Turkel against long peyot, I
would like to raise the following:
The shiur given by all of the poskim for each hair is very very short, and
in fact because it is a lo taase there is probably not even an inyan of
hidur mitzvah. Therefore it is not clear why there would be any inyan to
grow long peyot.

The truth is it would be much better to be machmir on the shiur of where
peyot harosh ends (maybe the very bottom of the ear) which is a safek issur
d'oraysa then to grow long peyot which has no kiyum al pi din.
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[1] I  think that it is fairly clear that Jewish law does not believe that a
woman  is owned by her husband, the language of the Mishna notwithstanding.
Can  anyone point to a clear statement by Hazal or rishonim that supports  
my
supposition?

My thanks,
Shalom Z.  Berger
 
[2] I own my shoes. This gives me certain rights, such  as wearing them to 
the exclusion of anyone else, or the choice of who I might  lend them to. I 
also have certain responsibilities; I cannot simply destroy them  for no 
reason.

I own my tefillin too. But the things I can do with my  tefillin are much 
more limited than what I can do with my shoes.

I have  certain rights and responsibilities vis a vis my wife as well. Do I 
own her? I  don't know. Is there a real nafka mina, or is it just semantics?

Akiva  Miller




>>>>
 
[1] Along the lines of what R' Micha Berger posted.  On Ber 24:57 --  "Let 
us call the maiden and ask her what she wants to do" -- Rashi says, "Mikan  
she'ein masi'in es ha'isha ela mida'ata -- from here we learn that one does 
not  [or may not, or cannot] marry a woman without her consent."  I think 
he's  quoting Kesubos 57b.
 
I can't think of any kind of property whose consent is required before the  
property can be acquired.
 
[2] The analogy to tefillin is flawed.  You do not have any  obligations or 
responsibilities to your tefillin.  Rather, in regards to  your tefillin, 
you have obligations towards your Maker!  He has told you  what you must do, 
may do, or must not do, with  your tefillin.
 
A better analogy would have been to your ox or your dog, where you do  
actually have obligations to your animals, an obligation, for example, to feed  
the animal before you eat your own meal.  And a still better analogy would  
have been to acquiring a slave, about which the Talmud says "One who 
acquires a  Jewish slave is like one who has acquired a master! (Kiddushin 20a)" -- 
because  of all the obligations he incurs towards his slave.
 
So there does seem to be some kind of ownership that a husband has  
vis-a-vis his wife, but then, she also in some sense owns him.  Certainly  she has 
the right to make specific claims on him, because he has specific  
obligations towards her.  Shir Hashirim speaks about the love between  Hakadosh 
Baruch Hu and Am Yisrael in an extended poetic analogy to the  love between a 
husband and a wife.  What does the wife say about her  husband?  Dodi li ve'ani 
lo -- He belongs to me, and I belong to Him.
 

--Toby  Katz
t6...@aol.com
..
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 From http://tinyurl.com/km8kf2n

The last few decades have witnessed the veritable explosion of "new 
perspectives" and horizons in the academic study of Kabbalah and 
Jewish Mysticism. From the pioneering work of the late Professor 
Gershom Scholem, and the establishment of the study of Jewish 
Mysticism as a legitimate scholarly pursuit, we witness a scene 
nowadays populated by men and women, Jews and non-Jews, who have 
challenged, (re)constructed, and expanded upon Scholem's work.[2]
  These men and women themselves have been variously praised and 
criticized themselves for sometimes blurring the lines between 
academician and practitioner of Kabbalah and mysticism.[3] Professor 
Boaz Huss of the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev has done 
extensive work in this area.[4] One of the most impressive examples 
of this fusion of identities is Professor Yehuda Liebes (Jerusalem, 
1947-) of Hebrew University, who completed his doctoral studies under 
Scholem, and rose to prominence himself by challenging scholarly 
orthodoxies established by his mentor.

See the above URL for more.  YL

 From http://tinyurl.com/men8bez

Relying upon rulings by decision makers such as Rabbi Shaul Yisraeli, 
Isser Yehuda Unterman and Rav Haim David HaLevi, the Zomet microphone 
uses only transistors "without any glowing [or 'burning'] elements;" 
is turned on by an automatic "Shabbat timer;" and, once turned on, 
"current flows continuously in the system," according to technical 
notes on the setup released on the group's website.

According to Zomet executive director Rabbi Dan Marans, the system 
has come into use in 15 synagogues in Baltimore, Montreal, West 
Stamford and other locations, as well as in 18 old-age homes. Leading 
American poskim, or decidors of Halacha, have even "stipulated in 
contracts with synagogues that they change the system to our system 
so that the RCA [will be] able to send rabbis."

<Snip>

"I've not heard comments [against it]. If anything, people find the 
service more enjoyable and more elevating," agreed Schneier, adding 
that "We must get a dozen calls a year from rabbis contemplating 
putting this system into their synagogues.

"I believe within 25 years it will be commonplace in Orthodox 
synagogues here in the Northeast."

See the above URL  for more.  YL

Transferring my comments to Avodah

At 04:00 PM 5/6/2015, R Saul Newman wrote on Areivim:

><http://www.sha
>relive.tv/sharlive_Heb/SL27948.html>http://www.sha
>relive.tv/sharlive_Heb/SL27948.html

I have to admit that I simply do not understand the goings on shown 
which I looked at last night, and am now looking at a bit.

The Sefardim hold one is not allowed to take a haircut the entire 
33rd day, and they wait until the 34th day to take a haircut.  Does 
this not imply that the entire 33rd day is part of Sefirah and the 
restrictions hold the entire 33rd day?

Ashkenazim hold "micktzas ha Yom K'kulo," when it comes to the last 
day of aveilus for someone sitting shiva.  However,  the micktzas 
starts in the morning of the 7th day,  not on the  night of the 7th 
day.  Thus, even according to Ashkenazim the night of Lag B'Omer is 
bound by the restrictions of Sefirah. So how can they make such 
gatherings on the night of the 33rd day?

And, of course there is this post that I made on from Fri, 26 Apr 
2013 based on comments by Rabbi Dr. Seth Mandel.

According to RSRH there is a major difference between the way the 
uses the terminology un-Jewish and non-Jewish.  Un-Jewish things are 
things that are incompatible with Yahadus, whereas non-Jewish things 
are things of non-Jewish origin that are compatible with Yahadus.  YL

The following is from http://www.aishdas.org/avodah/vol11/v11n014.shtml#17

Date: Wed, 21 May 2003 11:37:58 -0400
From: "Seth Mandel" <s...@aishdas.org>
Subject: 
<http://www.aishdas.org/avodah/getindex.cgi?section=B#BONFIRES
%20ON%20LAG%20BAOMER>Re: 
bonfires on Lag 
<http://www.aishdas.org/avodah/getindex.cgi?section=B#BONFIRES
%20ON%20LAG%20BAOMER>Ba'Omer



From: Phyllos...@aol.com
<The fact that fires on lag ba'Omer have been more of a communal
event as opposed to more individual fires on erev Pesach, have limited the
problem then - however that may be in danger of changing...
P.S. On a language note, according to Merriam Webster, the word bonfire
comes from bone fire (not bon-fire = good fire). R. SM ? Can you
elaborate
on what kind of bones were burned, etc. ?>

Obviously, the bones of people who believe that there is a s'gullo
in making fires <grin>. As I have had fun telling people, the
_only_ bonfire that was an ancient Jewish tradition was the Simchas Torah
bonfire in Ashk'naz, which is attested from the 14th century up until
the 19th century, but has gone out of style. The Lag Ba'omer bonfire is
a very recent phenomenon among most Jews.

Indeed, the word bonfire is from "fire of bones." The term was
used
primarily in various pagan ceremonies which then were transferred to
christianity, for a funeral pyre, and in burning infidels or books
(like The Gaon of Vilna or MOAG). The bones used, if 'twere not a pyre,
were primarily animal bones.

Here's an early quotation (1493): "in worshyppe of saynte John the
people waked at home and made all maner of fyres. One was clene bones
and no woode, and that is called a bone fyre." From Marlowe in
1586:
"Making bonfires for my overthrow. But, ere I die, those foul
idolators
Shall make me bonfires with their filthy bones." (Think that would
get
by the moderators on Areivim, R. SBA?)

1689: "The dead corps is buried. They of old made a bone-fire and
therein
burnt it."

1622: "Their holy Bibles cast into Bone-fires."

The term became used for any large fires used for celebrations, although
the practice and term continued to be used especially for those
associated
with various christian saints, particularly John and Peter. From a 1570
history: "Then doth the joyfull feast of John the Baptist take his
turne,
When bonfiers great with loftie flame, in every towne doe burne."
From
a constitution of the association of the cooks of Newcastle, 1575:
"The said Felloship of Cookes shall yearelie. mainteigne and keep
the
Bone-fires. that is to say, one Bone-fire on the Even of the Feast of
the Nativitie of St. John Baptist. and the other on the Even of the
Feast of St. Peter the Apostle." These quotations start in the 15th
century, because that is as far back as the term bone-fire goes, but the
practice of making a bonfire in honor of Christian saints goes back to
ancient times in England (and in France as well). Another practice that
goes back to ancient times in Christian Europe is making pilgrimages to
"qivrei tzaddiqim" and donating alms at the qever; this
practice is well known from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.

Most Christian scholars attribute the association of the bonfires
with celebrations of the feast of a saint to pagan, pre-christian
practices which were later adopted by the local people to their new
religion. Indeed, the Celtics made bonfires to honor some of their
deities and spirits. No one would ever claim that these practices,
going back into old Anglo-Saxon England, are of Jewish origin.

The Arabs of EY, Syria, and Lebanon, as is well-known, honored the
Christian and Jewish "saints" (everyone knows that the qever of
Sh'muel haNavi has been a "holy" site to the Arabs for hundreds of
years, and they built a mosque there; the site is called "anNabi Samwil").
They made pilgrimages to them, like the Christians did, and they made large
celebrations to honor the festival of the saint. The Arab pilgrims
who came did various things to honor the saint. They gave alms (a big
mitzva in Islam), usually done by the practice of cutting the hair of
their children (which they had let grow from before the pilgrimage),
then weighing it and giving the same weight in gold or silver for
alms. They also made large bonfires to honor the saint. The custom
of making pilgrimages, giving alms, and making bonfires may have been
borrowed from the christians, since a) they originally appeared among
the Arabs of EY, Lebanon and Syria, AFAIK; b) they are first recorded
after the time of the Crusades (although the giving of gold or silver
in the weight of the hair seems to have been from the Middle East).
However there is no clear proof that they did not arise from another
source. But they are attested in Arabic sources going back to the 15th
century, and probably before.

Can the custom of bonfires on Lag Ba'omer have arisen among the Jews
separately and independently from the non-Jewish sources? Theoretically
it's possible. Books like Minhag Yisruel Toyre he brings all sorts
of reasons from various chasidic rebbes and from the book Ta'amei
haMinhogim for the origin of the bonfires on Lag Ba'omer. The problem
with all the explanations is that a) they are all of recent origin, and
b) they somehow ignore the fact that the custom was completely unknown
to any Jews up until the time when it is recorded in EY in the 16th
century. Furthermore, it was the custom there of only one group of Jews,
the Musta'ribim, about whom other Jews complained that they had adopted
a lot of Arab customs (the very name mean "Arabicized).

  From contemporary documents we learn the Muslims (and a few Jews)
cut the
hair of children as well as lit a bonfires on the yohrtzeit (28 of
Iyyar)
of non other than the aforementioned Shmu'el haNavi. However, in the
1560s the Arab authorities forbad Jews to go there. Shortly afterwards,
we have the testimony of R. Chaim Vital that he was told by R. Yonatan
Sagiz that a year before he started learning by the Ari, in the Ari's
first year after he immigrated from his homeland of Egypt (also 1570),
that "Mori v'Rabbi Z'L took his small son and all of his family
there
[to the celebration on RaShBY 's yohtzeit in Meron] and there he cut
his hair in accordance with the custom." R. Chaim Vital is careful
to
note, however, that "I do not know whether at that time he was
expert
and knowledgable in this wondrous wisdom [Qabbolo] as he became after
that." IOW, R. Chaim Vital himself is cautioning the reader that he
has
doubts about whether the Ari did this in accordance with his views in
Qabbolo, or just because it was a popular celebration, and he might not
have participated had he already been an expert in Qabbolo.

Some historians believe that once the Musta'ribim were forbidden to go
to the qever of Sh'muel haNavi, they transferred their celebration to
Meron and the date to Lag Ba'Omer. Others claim that the custom at Meron
predated 1570. But both groups agree that both of these customs, cutting
the hair of the children and making bonfires, were practiced by the
Arabs
and the Musta 'ribim, but not by any of the Ashk'nazi and S'faradi Jews
in Israel. Of great interest is that the local rabbis in Tz'fat, who had
the practice of going to the all the known q'vorim of the Tano'im from
the middle of Iyyar until Shavu'os and having a seder in learning there,
opposed the celebrations of the Musta'ribim on Lag ba'Omer and tried
to forbid it. They made little headway, and once it became known that
the Ari participated one year, any opposition was swept away. We know
from travelers to EY in the 18th and 19th centuries that the
"hilula" at Meron on Lag Ba'Omer with bonfires and the cutting of children's
hair had become an affair of the masses. A well known talmid chochom
from Europe, R. Avrohom Rozanes, writes that in his visit to EY in 1867
he saw an Ashk'nazi Jew who had taken his son to the "hilula"
and was giving him a haircut. R. Rozanes says that he could not restrain
himself, and went to that Jew and tried to dissuade him but was 
unsuccessful, and
that most of the Ashk'nazi and S'faradi Jews of EY participate in this
"craziness," with "drinking and dancing and fires."

The custom of giving the son his first haircut at that celebration, 
originally called
"halaqa" by the Jews of EY (apparently because there was an established Arabic
term but no Jewish term for the custom) was later mixed with the custom of
making a celebration when a son reached 3 and began learning Torah. The
two customs were combined by many, and resulted in the boy's haircut
being delayed until he was 3, and not specifically on Lag ba' Omer. A
chasidish rebbe, R. Yehudah Leibush Horenstein, who emigrated to EY in
the middle of the 19th century writes that "this haircut, called
halaqe, is done by the S'faradim in Yerushalayim at the qever of RaShB'Y during
the summer, but during the winter they take the boy to the synagogue or
Bet Medrash and perform the haircut with great celebration and parties,
something _that is unknown to the Jews in Europe_. and at that point
they start him growing his pe'ot. it is incomprehensible why this is not done
outside of EY [as well]" [emphasis mine]. Indeed, the custom was
adopted by shortly thereafter by chasidim in Europe to imitate the 
custom of the
S'faradim in EY, and the custom of lighting bonfires on Lag Ba'Omer
also was adopted at that time by chasidic communities in Europe. The Jews in
Europe, knowing no Arabic and having no Yiddish name for the custom of
the haircut, called it by a normal Yiddish word for cutting off the
hair: opsheren. Both customs are less than 150 years old among Ashk'naz Jews,
including chasidim. Now we scarcely can expect to find a historical
document that says "we, the undersigned Jews, have decided that
there is nothing wrong with copying the Muslim celebrations in honor of saints,
and we will participate in them." So you're never going to find
better historical evidence for Jewish borrowing of non-Jewish customs than
this: that a custom that was previously unknown to any group of Jews arose
among a group of Jews known to copy various Arab customs in a time and place
that the custom is attested among the Arabs from independent evidence.

Is there anything osur about a bonfire on Lag Ba'Omer, or waiting to
give a son a haircut until he is 3 or until you go to Meron? Certainly
not. As I believe R. SBA has noted, the opsheren provides an excuse for
a party that is connected with the boy's beginning to learn; it could
be done without the haircut, but if people feel that it is important
to give a haircut as well, there is no issur. Certainly no one who
lights bonfires or celebrates opsheren has any idea that the source
of these customs is extremely questionable. And after 130 years most
Jews forget the origin of customs anyway and just assume they are old
Jewish customs.. However, those who studiously avoid eating turkey on
Thanksgiving should know that the origin of the customs of the bonfire
on Lag ba'Omer and halaqa/opsheren are much more suspect.

Seth Mandel

----------


So I really do not understand this entire affair at Meron.  To add to 
this see the pictures of Lag B'Omer from many years ago at 
http://tinyurl.com/khmhcz4

I do not see even one bonfire!  YL





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On Thu, May 07, 2015 at 10:01:44AM -0400, Prof. Levine via Avodah wrote:
: I have to admit that I simply do not understand the goings on shown
: which I looked at last night, and am now looking at a bit.

: The Sefardim hold one is not allowed to take a haircut the entire
: 33rd day...
: Ashkenazim hold "micktzas ha Yom K'kulo," when it comes to the last
: day of aveilus for someone sitting shiva...

Both of which are minhagim, not halakhah. Also, the minhag is not to
get one's hair cut, rather than cutting someone else's hair, which would
mean you're worried about whether it applies to 3 year olds.

Minhagim evolve, that's what they do. If the Peri Eitz Chaim records the
Ari's position that it's apprpriate to not just refrain from mourning
on Lag baOmer but to celebrate it, there is sufficient motive -- in
the eyes of many. Of course, that "many" wouldn't include the Yekke
qehilos. And I had a choice of bonfires at yeshivos gedolos to go to
last night, had I wanted to. Litta joining in is defintely new.

Yes, many of us know that the PEC really says Lag baOmer is yom simchas
Rashbi, which may or may not be his yahrzeit. "Yom shemeis" is a typo
that reached later editions via a dropped ches. See
http://seforim.blogspot.com/2011/05/printing-mistake-and-myste
rious-origins.html
But (as per previous conversations), that also doesn't rule out the
possibility that the day of Rashbi's joy is his yahrzeit. But even
if the Ari said it's the day he started the Zohar, finished it, left
the cave, or whatever, it's  still a day the Ari considered worth
celebrating.

And yes, many of us also know that the whole upsherin-at-the-qever thing
was originally on the 43rd in/to the omer, at Nabi Samwel. (See shu"t
haRadvaz 2:608.) Which makes sense -- Shemu'el was a nazir, and he lived
in the BHMQ starting at age 3. The move to Meron and Lag baOmer happened
when the Ottomans restricted access to the qever in the 1500s.

The Radbaz, R' David b Shelomo ibn Zimra was among the gerushei Sefarad,
who ended up in Tzefas in 1513 and eventually end up in Egypt where
he was RY (he taught the Shitah Mequbetzes, R' Betzalel Ashkenazi)
and ABD. But the version of the minhag he recorded would not pose the
question -- observe the first "half" of the omer, and then a haircut a
week before Shavuos isn't a problem.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             Today is the 33rd day, which is
mi...@aishdas.org        4 weeks and 5 days in/toward the omer.
http://www.aishdas.org   Hod sheb'Hod: LAG B'OMER - What is total
Fax: (270) 514-1507               submission to truth, and what results?

On Thu, May 07, 2015 at 10:01:44AM -0400, Prof. Levine via Avodah wrote:
: I have to admit that I simply do not understand the goings on shown
: which I looked at last night, and am now looking at a bit.

: The Sefardim hold one is not allowed to take a haircut the entire
: 33rd day...
: Ashkenazim hold "micktzas ha Yom K'kulo," when it comes to the last
: day of aveilus for someone sitting shiva...

Both of which are minhagim, not halakhah. Also, the minhag is not to
get one's hair cut, rather than cutting someone else's hair, which would
mean you're worried about whether it applies to 3 year olds.

Minhagim evolve, that's what they do. If the Peri Eitz Chaim records the
Ari's position that it's apprpriate to not just refrain from mourning
on Lag baOmer but to celebrate it, there is sufficient motive -- in
the eyes of many. Of course, that "many" wouldn't include the Yekke
qehilos. And I had a choice of bonfires at yeshivos gedolos to go to
last night, had I wanted to. Litta joining in is defintely new.

Yes, many of us know that the PEC really says Lag baOmer is yom simchas
Rashbi, which may or may not be his yahrzeit. "Yom shemeis" is a typo
that reached later editions via a dropped ches. See
http://seforim.blogspot.com/2011/05/printing-mistake-and-myste
rious-origins.html
But (as per previous conversations), that also doesn't rule out the
possibility that the day of Rashbi's joy is his yahrzeit. But even
if the Ari said it's the day he started the Zohar, finished it, left
the cave, or whatever, it's  still a day the Ari considered worth
celebrating.

And yes, many of us also know that the whole upsherin-at-the-qever thing
was originally on the 43rd in/to the omer, at Nabi Samwel. (See shu"t
haRadvaz 2:608.) Which makes sense -- Shemu'el was a nazir, and he lived
in the BHMQ starting at age 3. The move to Meron and Lag baOmer happened
when the Ottomans restricted access to the qever in the 1500s.

The Radbaz, R' David b Shelomo ibn Zimra was among the gerushei Sefarad,
who ended up in Tzefas in 1513 and eventually end up in Egypt where
he was RY (he taught the Shitah Mequbetzes, R' Betzalel Ashkenazi)
and ABD. But the version of the minhag he recorded would not pose the
question -- observe the first "half" of the omer, and then a haircut a
week before Shavuos isn't a problem.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             Today is the 33rd day, which is
mi...@aishdas.org        4 weeks and 5 days in/toward the omer.
http://www.aishdas.org   Hod sheb'Hod: LAG B'OMER - What is total
Fax: (270) 514-1507               submission to truth, and what results?

On 05/07/2015 10:01 AM, Prof. Levine via Avodah wrote:
>
>
> The Sefardim hold one is not allowed to take a haircut the entire 33rd
> day, and they wait until the 34th day to take a haircut.  Does this
> not imply that the entire 33rd day is part of Sefirah and the
> restrictions hold the entire 33rd day?
>
> Ashkenazim hold "micktzas ha Yom K'kulo," when it comes to the last
> day of aveilus for someone sitting shiva.	However,  the micktzas
> starts in the morning of the 7th day,  not on the night of the 7th
> day.  Thus, even according to Ashkenazim the night of Lag B'Omer is
> bound by the restrictions of Sefirah. So how can they make such
> gatherings on the night of the 33rd day?


That all applies if you regard Lag Ba'omer as simply marking the end of
mourning.  But as we discussed a few weeks ago, that doesn't really make
sense.  According to both shitos quoted by the BY there is no such thing
as Lag Ba'omer -- the last day on which they died was either the 34th of
the Omer or the 49th.  Even according to the Tosfos as the Bach quotes it,
that they only died for 33 days, Lag Ba'omer was one of the 33, and not
the last one!   And even if one will find a shita somewhere that they died
only on the first 33 days, who makes a party on the last day of shiva?
You stop active mourning, you don't go dancing!

All of which points to the fact that Lag Ba'omer is *not* about the end
of mourning, but a happy day in its own right, the simcha of Rashbi.
(The silly discussion over whether the word is "simchas" or "shemeis" is
irrelevant here.  Either way it's his simcha, which he asked people to
celebrate.)  This simcha *overrides* the mourning of sefira, no matter
which shita one follows.

This way of looking at things also explains whether one should say tachanun
at mincha of erev Lag Ba'omer.  If it's just "the end of shiva", that starts
in the morning, so one should say tachanun at the previous mincha, just as
one does on erev Pesach Sheni (which also starts in the morning), erev
Erev RH and erev Erev YK, and if we said tachanun in Nissan we would also
say it at mincha of erev Erev Pesach, because it too starts in the morning.
But once we regard Lag Ba'omer as a day of simcha in its own right, then it
starts at night, and so we omit tachanun in the previous mincha.

-- 
Zev Sero               I have a right to stand on my own defence, if you
z...@sero.name          intend to commit felony...if a robber meets me in
                        the street and commands me to surrender my purse,
                        I have a right to kill him without asking questions
                                               -- John Adams


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