Avodah Mailing List

Volume 40: Number 64

Sun, 25 Sep 2022

• 1. Re: Sheqel Kesef (Akiva Miller)
• 2. Re: Sheqel Kesef (Danny Schoemann)
• 3. Re: milchama (Joel Rich)
• 4. HaGaon HaRav Mutzafi: ?No Apple In Honey On Rosh Hashanah? (Prof. L. Levine)
• 5. Re: HaGaon HaRav Mutzafi: ?No Apple In Honey On Rosh Hashanah? (Micha Berger)
• 6. Re: Sheqel Kesef (Micha Berger)
• 7. Rosh Hashana Fruits, Order Of Berachos (Prof. L. Levine)
• 8. The Performing Kiddush Prior to Tekiyas Shofar Puzzle (Prof. L. Levine)

R' Micha Berger brought interesting arguments to show that Machtzis
Hasheqel must have been a coin. I'd like to cite another mitzvah d'Oraisa
which can't be understood unless money coins existed in Moshe Rabenu's day.
Namely: Pidyon Maaser Sheni.

For example, Devarim 14:26 says "You shall put the kesef into whatever your
soul desires." This kesef can't possibly refer to the metal silver. It has
to be translated as "money", because one is allowed to use *copper* coins
for this. (See, for example, Torah Temimah Devarim 14 note 67.)

At first, I was focusing on the previous pasuk, where the word "v'tzarta"
is understood to be teaching us that the thing used for pidyon has to have
a "tzura" on it. But then I saw RMB's suggestion that "the Avraham coin (BQ
97b) ... could have been more a medallion than a coin." Would such a
medallion (which *does* have tzura) be valid for Pidyon Masser Sheni? No,
it would not. Besides having a tzura, it also has to be legal tender. No
matter how valuable that medallion might be for bartering, check out Torah
Temimah Devarim 14 note 68, and you'll get a new appreciation for the term
"legal tender".

All this proves to my satisfaction that something meaning "coin" did exist
in Moshe Rabenu's day. (These coins didn't have to be round, but they did
need to be imprinted with a tzura, and to be spendable at all local
merchants.) But it doesn't help regarding the sale of the Machpelah a few
centuries earlier. Were those 400 sheqalim weighed or counted? Still
looking...

Akiva Miller
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.aishdas.org/pipermail/avodah-aishdas.org/attachments/20220921/01c4cd2b/attachment-0001.htm>

If coins didn't exist when the Torah was given, and for many centuries
thereafter, how do we explain the Halocho of Chilul Maaser Sheini?

It needs a coin for Chilul. Even an Asimon (a blank coin) doesn't qualify.

Just wondering.

KVT

- Danny
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.aishdas.org/pipermail/avodah-aishdas.org/attachments/20220921/e4b4f7c8/attachment-0001.htm>

> 
> I just think it's interesting that halkhah sets up a multibranch
> government -- Melekh, Sanhedrin, kehunah (maybe the Navi is his own
> branch, maybe it is part of the Melukhah) and launching a war requires
> the support of all of them.
> 
> ???-/-
R ybs attributed this to HKBH?s recognizing man?s frailties, that no one single individual could be fully trusted
Kvct
Joel

From

https://www.theyeshivaworld.com/news/headlines-breaking-stories/2125561/hagaon-harav-mutzafi-no-apple-in-honey-on-rosh-hashanah.html#:~:text=HaGaon%20HaRav%20Ben%20Tzion%20Mutzafi%2C%20a%20leading%20Sephardi,Mutzafi%20responded%3A%20%E2%80%9C%D7%A9%D7%90%D7%9C%20%D7%90%D7%91%D7%99%D7%9A%20%D7%95%D7%99%D7%92%D7%93%D7%9A%20%D7%96%D7%A7%D7%A0%D7%99%D7%9A%20%D7%95%D7%99%D7%90%D7%9E%D7%A8%20%D7%9C%D7%9A.


HaGaon HaRav Ben Tzion Mutzafi, a leading Sephardi posek, was asked last week about the minhag of eating apple in honey on Rosh Hashanah.

?Are Sephardim noheig to eat apple in honey?? one of Rav Mutzafi?s talmidim asked. ?Because my grandfather said that not.?


Rav Mutzafi responded: ???? ???? ????? ????? ????? ??. Your grandfather is
completely right. Until today, we, the bnei eidos hamizrach, are not noheig
to eat honey on Rosh Hashanah, but to cook some kinds of fruits and
vegetables in sugar and eat them.?


?According to Kabbalah, honey is Middas HaDin, and it shouldn?t be stirred
up on Rosh Hashanah, because it is yellow-gold in color. Its number also
reminds us of the letters ??? from the word ?shofar,? which are sweetened
through the tekios and with the 14 knuckles of the fingers that hold on to
the shofar, is the gematria ???, which are dinim as mentioned in Adra Rabba
in the Zohar HaKodesh.?

Professor Levine


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.aishdas.org/pipermail/avodah-aishdas.org/attachments/20220922/7a1acb22/attachment-0001.htm>

On Thu, Sep 22, 2022 at 12:41:59PM +0000, Prof. L. Levine via Avodah wrote:
> From
> https://www.theyeshivaworld.com/news/headlines-breaking-stories/2125561

> HaGaon HaRav Ben Tzion Mutzafi, a leading Sephardi posek...
>... Until today, we, the bnei eidos hamizrach, are not noheig to eat
> honey on Rosh Hashanah, but to cook some kinds of fruits and vegetables
> in sugar and eat them."

The Rosh (OC 583) says it's an Ashkenazi minhag.

And sheep heads? Described as a minhag of Prevance. I wonder if it is
equally modern that others eat it.

That says... Whatever makes your RH more meaningful... It's not like anyone
has a minhag AGAINST eating apple in honey or sheep heads.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger                 Take time,
http://www.aishdas.org/asp   be exact,
Author: Widen Your Tent      unclutter the mind.
- https://amzn.to/2JRxnDF          - Rabbi Simcha Zissel Ziv, Alter of Kelm

On Wed, Sep 21, 2022 at 10:56:04PM +0300, Danny Schoemann via Avodah wrote:
> If coins didn't exist when the Torah was given, and for many centuries
> thereafter, how do we explain the Halocho of Chilul Maaser Sheini?

> It needs a coin for Chilul. Even an Asimon (a blank coin) doesn't qualify.

Is that specific requirement miSinai? Or is it a din derabbanan about
how to be meqayeim the deOraisa? (Question isn't rhetorical.)

Think of all the dinim we have about when to repeat Shemoneh Esrei,
none of which can be deOraisa, even though many hold the obligation of
some sort of daily tefillah is deOraisa.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger                 The true measure of a man
http://www.aishdas.org/asp   is how he treats someone
Author: Widen Your Tent      who can do him absolutely no good.
- https://amzn.to/2JRxnDF                 - Samuel Johnson

TThe following is from today's OU Kosher Halacha Yomis:


Q. On Rosh Hashanah night after reciting Hamotzi, I will eat a number of
foods as a siman tov (good omen) for the coming year. Among those, it is
customary to eat three fruits: apples (dipped in honey), dates and
pomegranates. What is the halacha for fruits eaten at the beginning of the
meal on Rosh Hashanah? Do I recite a beracha of Borei Pri Ha?eitz on these
fruits or are they covered by Hamotzi? If a beracha is required, which
fruit should I eat first?

A. The Mishnah Berurah (583:3) writes that one is required to recite Borei
Pri Ha?eitz (one time) on these fruits. The beracha of Hamotzi does not
cover these items because they are served as a ?siman tov? (a good omen) to
merit a good year, and not as part of the meal.

When eating more than one fruit, halacha establishes rules of priority
(kedimos) based on the level of importance of each item. Which fruit is
eaten first on the night of Rosh Hashana? There are three different
opinions in the poskim about this matter. In general, fruit of the seven
species of Israeli listed in the Torah (Devorim 8:8) take precedence,
because they are more important. Furthermore, dates have a more prominent
position than pomegranates in the aforementioned verse, and for that
reason, they take precedence for brochos as well. As such, Rav Shlomo
Zalman Auerbach zt?l (Halichos Shlomo, Tishrai,1:17) writes that the
berocha of Ha?eitz is recited on the dates and the pomegranate and apple
follow without an additional beracha. The Kaf Hachayim (583:14) quotes
others who maintain that the Borei Pri Haetz is recited on the apple on the
night of Rosh Hashanah because the apple dipped in honey is the most
important siman tov of the evening, as reflected in Kabalistic literature
  (see Maharil Hilchos Rosh Hashana 7). It is well known that many great
  rabbis recited the beracha on the apple first. Still other poskim
  recommend avoiding the issue altogether by not bringing the dates and
  pomegranates to the table until after the beracha is recited on the
  apple. The beracha is recited on the apple while having in mind the other
  fruit, but they are left in a different room until after the apple is
  consumed (See Sefer Piskei Teshuvos 583:2).


Professor Yitzchok Levine

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.aishdas.org/pipermail/avodah-aishdas.org/attachments/20220923/05ca596e/attachment.htm>

From

https://ohr.edu/this_week/insights_into_halacha/6500

Picture, if you will, the hallowed halls of almost any Yeshivah, almost
anywhere in the world, on Rosh Hashanah morning. As the strains of Shiras
Chanah conclude, followed by the post-Haftarah brachos, there suddenly is a
loud bang on the Bimah and the Gabbai calls out ?Kiddush!? Most of those
assembled take a break for a quick Kiddush and then return for the day?s
main Mitzvah - the Tekiyas Shofar, the Blowing of the Shofar. The recitings
of ?Lamnatzeach? soon reach a crescendo, not unlike a deafening roar, as
the congregation eagerly anticipates and prepares for the Shofar Blowing.

Although this is indeed the common custom in almost every Yeshivah,
curiously, the idea of making Kiddush and eating prior to the main Mitzvah
of the day is considered an anathema to some. In fact, the Matteh Efraim,
who is considered the authority on issues relating to the Yomim Nora?im,
writes that it is actually prohibited to eat before Tekiyas Shofar, barring
if one is weak, and, even only then, a small ?Te?imah?, tasting of food, in
private, is allowed.[1]<https://ohr.edu/6500#_edn1> If so,
why do so many make Kiddush[2]<https://ohr.edu/6500#_edn2> and
eat before Tekiyas Shofar?

See the above URL for much more.

If you will be in Brooklyn for RH, I invite you to daven with the Young
Israel of Avenue J Hashkama Minyan that starts at 7:15 and will end no
later than 11:30. If you join us, you will be able to go home and make
kiddush well before Chatzos.

This minyan meets in the Bais Medrash which is downstairs.

Professor Yitzchok Levine




-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.aishdas.org/pipermail/avodah-aishdas.org/attachments/20220922/b6e1b6f9/attachment.htm>

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



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


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


**************************************

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

To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit
	http://www.aishdas.org/lists/avodah/avodahareivim-membership-agreement/


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/lists/avodah/avodah-acronyms
(They are also visible in the web archive copy of each digest.)