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chofetzchaimMember
This week we have “kol-eyyyyleh”
chofetzchaimMemberIn Eretz Yisrael when Purim falls on Shabbos we read the same haftorah for Parshas Zachor and Purim
chofetzchaimMemberI might be a CC guy but I’m going for the black and white team. Kings in 7.
The Most Powerful Magic Number:
LA improved to 7-0 in elimination games with its third Game 7 win on the road this postseason.
It was the seventh Game 7 of this year’s NHL playoffs matching the single-postseason record set in 1994 and 2011.
It was Williams’ seventh career goal in a Game 7, tying Glenn Anderson for the NHL record.
Gaborik, Williams and Mike Richards each improved to 7-0 in Game 7s.
Sutter moved to 7-3 in Game 7s for the NHL record for most coaching wins in Game 7s.
chofetzchaimMembertakahmamash wrote:
“FriendInFlatbush, succah on Shmini Atzeres is halachah.”
Maybe in chu”l, certainly not in E”Y. In E”Y nobody eats in their sukka on Sh”A.
In Eretz Yisroel, the minhag (as far as I know) is that even those who keep 2 days of Yom Tov will eat inside on Sh”A because of lo sisgodidu. Eating outside in a sukka is a public display of Yom Tov while for the bnei EY it is assur to eat in the sukka because of baal tosif. That being said, in Chofetz Chaim the sukka is in the middle of the building not viewable to the public so they do eat in the sukka. I have heard that even if your “family minhag” is to eat inside, this is a minhag ta’us and you should eat in the sukka.
(I don’t know if this applies to chasidim though I have heard that the whole reason for the chasidim not eating in the sukka on Sh”A is that in Europe it was freezing cold so they paskened to be meikel and eat inside for Yom Tov Sheini, this is the same reason they don’t sleep in the sukka – because their Rebbe didn’t sleep in the sukka which was because it was cold)
chofetzchaimMemberChuck Norris’s hadassim and aravos stay perfectly green and whole for all 7 days.
chofetzchaimMember- Chuck Norris shlugs kapparos with a cow.
- Chuck Norris fasts the entire aseres yemei teshuva. (Actually, this is a real minhag- but he doesn’t eat at night.)
- Chuck Norris klaps “al cheit” with brass knuckles.
- Chuck Norris says all of the extra piyutim in the back of the Artscroll machzor And still has a 3 hour break.
- Chuck Norris’s sukkah is made from actual Ananei HaKavod.
- Chuck Norris is makpid not to breathe outside the sukkah.
- When Chuck Norris bangs his Aravos, it measures 6.3 on the Richter Scale — 50 miles away.
- Chuck Norris does backwards hagbah on all 3 Torahs at once, while holding up all 4 sides of the tallis chupa.
- Chuck Norris holds his Lulav and Esrog, his Machzor, the Torah, and cell phone – All at the same time. In one hand.
chofetzchaimMemberYes. If a kohein gadol becomes tamei etc they can temporarily replace him. I think that’s what happened in that story.
And in Harry Potter they wear dress robes on fancy occasions and regular robes otherwise and jeans and t-shirts when among muggles.
chofetzchaimMemberI get the mishmeres chaim and halacha texts.
I also get the @JewishTeen tweets which are weekly texts about the parsha. To sign up text “follow @jewishteen” to 40404 (to get random jokes you can also follow @jasfj)
chofetzchaimMemberUtah, as mentioned by others, that was said tongue in cheek.
JF02, the Rabbi spoke about feminism in his speech. Our shul started at 8:45am and the walk back was quite hot. One of the Rabbis offered for people to stop at his house for water and AC on the way back for people passing his way.
Goq, my mother hires a staff on Erev Pesach Zecher L’yitzias Mitzraim.
chofetzchaimMemberBoymp.
May 22, 2013 12:01 am at 12:01 am in reply to: Why do they teach girls to sound like Harrys? #1144988chofetzchaimMemberWhy would kosher and non-kosher fish oils be different?
Perhaps the poster meant that they cannot find kosher fish oil. If this is the case, search Amazon, I’m pretty sure they sell Kosher ones. If fish oil doesn’t work for them for whatever reason but they need a different way of getting Omega-3’s you can use flax-seed oil which is also available on Amazon in Kosher (Vegan) capsules.
chofetzchaimMemberYeshiva Zichron Dovid / Yeshiva
Yisroel Yitzchok Reisman in Ramat Beit Shemesh 972-2-992-3459
chofetzchaimMemberPopa must be a woman. The women are supposed to make the osso buco because: Nashim, af heim hayu b’osso buco.
Our Osso Buco was good too. My mother should have a cook-off with popa.
chofetzchaimMemberbump
chofetzchaimMemberVayakhel-Pekudei are always together in non-leap years with the following exception:
When Rosh Hashana of a non-leap year is on Thursday, and the year is Malei, so that Pesach comes out on Sunday, Vayakhel and Pekudei are split because we need an extra Shabbos for Tzav to be Shabbos HaGadol.
December 2, 2012 8:37 am at 8:37 am in reply to: Jewish Money History and Historical Jewish Coin Chart #909945chofetzchaimMemberThe author has written a pictorial guide to the coins of the mishna
and gemara, with lots of color photos of the coins. you can view this
at:
chofetzchaimMemberTo quote R’ Shaffier (https://jdonations.mapletime.com/shmuz25/)
Why is Amex doing this?
For them it’s part marketing, part their way of encouraging
people to give. They figure if people use their Amex card for
good causes, it makes them look good, and makes for more
loyal customers.
The bottom line is that this is a chance to donate $25 and it won’t
cost you a penny!
…
PS- This is American Express’s way of giving back to the community. You simply donate $25 to the Shmuz on your AMEX card, and that amount will then be refunded to your credit card. It costs you nothing. And the Shmuz gains!
chofetzchaimMemberWow, I see about 20 tzedakas doing this at http://www.jdonations.com and I’ve gotten emails from many others who are not on that list. Looks like everyone is trying to take advantage. Why not?
November 2, 2012 12:46 am at 12:46 am in reply to: Why do you think the Hurricane Sandy came? #906847chofetzchaimMemberFrom CCHF:
What does a hurricane have to do with loshon hora?
The Ben Yehoyada explains that hurricanes are created by loshon hora. The following is a short synopsis. See below for the original.
The posuk starts with Hashem creating mountains and ends with mentioning the speech of man.
Why?
But why, asks the Ben Yehoyada, is there a need for such great hurricane winds in the first place?
The Ben Yehoyada teaches us that after witnessing a great hurricane, every person should learn great musar from it, to guard themselves from the sin of improper speech.
chofetzchaimMemberchofetzchaimMemberI heard from R’ Nosson Shulman that the Chazzon Ish once told him that a Siddur goes on top of a Chumash.
In terms of propping a sefer on another, I heard that if it is there already it is OK, but you shouldn’t go out of your way to stack them for that purpose.
chofetzchaimMemberThe last Chofetz Chaim they had in San Diego was a girls school so, No, yeshiva Guys shouldn’t attend. Camp Yam Surf on the other hand…
chofetzchaimMemberI once saw the Rosh Yeshiva ZTL from Chofetz Chaim put on tfilin and noticed that he buttoned his sleeve after putting them on.
chofetzchaimMemberQueens TBT Kollel Boker
Dvar Halacha
By: R’ Chananya Berman
Question:
If my husband makes “early Shabbos” when does Shabbos start for me (the wife)?
Discussion:
If a husband accepts early Shabbos it does not obligate his wife (or children) to accept Shabbos as well. However, if the husband accepts Shabbos for the mitzvah of tosefes Shabbos (adding on to Shabbos), and not just for convenience, then it has the status of a custom to which his family would be subject. In such a case his family would have to stop all melacha when he accepts Shabbos (Iggros Moshe O.C. 3:38). There is an opinion that even in this situation his family would not be bound by his personal acceptance of Shabbos (Aruch Hashulchan O.C. 263:22).
A community with one Shul:
In a city that has one shul only, when that shul accepts Shabbos the whole city is “pulled along” and must also accept Shabbos (Chayei Adam 5:9). The reason for this is based on the concept of Minhag Hamakom. This holds true for the women of the community as well. Therefore, they must be careful to light candles and stop doing any melacha before this time.
If there is more than one shul in a community then by definition neither one is “minhag Hamakom”. Therefore, the individual is not bound by the community even if one shul is the majority (M.B. 263:51).
Camps and Bungalow Colonies:
Camps and colonies generally have one minyan and therefore are considered like a city with one shul. Once they accept Shabbos everyone in that colony or camp would be required to accept Shabbos as well (Sefer 39 Melachos Vol. 1 note 749). Some poskim say that since the community is doing it for convenience the individual is not dragged after the majority and can accept Shabbos later. However, one still should not do any open melacha such as drive through the colony or camp (Iggros Moshe ibid.).
For all practical questions please ask your Rav.
chofetzchaimMemberIn Parshas Emor, the Torah describes the proper way to observe the three festivals. Among the instructions, there is a special mitzvah to be happy. The Yalkut Shimoni (???”?) points out, that this mitzvah for us to rejoice is found three times in reference to Yom Tov. However, he notes that all three commandments appear with reference to Succos, once in Parshas Emor (????? ?”?:?’), as the posuk says,”?????? ???? ?’ ??????” – “And you shall rejoice before Hashem your G-d”, and twice in Parshas Re’eh .(????? ?”?:?”?-?”?) This commandment is conspicuously absent from the mitzvos of Pesach. The Yalkut Shimoni resolves this inconsistency by explaining that during the Pesach season people have not yet harvested their grain and their income still remains in jeopardy. Therefore, it is not possible for man to be in a total state of happiness, and thus the Torah does not instruct him to be happy.
At first glance, this explanation would seem nearly as puzzling as the omission of the commandment. We certainly would have imagined that the Torah’s definition and instruction of simcha would be a spiritual joy, independent of the physical pleasures that our human bodies desire. Thus, the insecurity in one’s future livelihood, a physical need, should not interfere with Hashem commanding such a mitzvah and our obligation to rejoice spiritually.
The reality, however, is that the Torah’s definition of joy and its commandment thereof, is an all-encompassing happiness. The Gemara (??????? ?”? ???”? ??) explains that man was created last in the creation of the world, so that “his meal would be prepared” – and he would be able to partake. Hashem, in His great kindness, created humanity with a broad array of physical senses and desires. Moreover, Hashem’s wish is to constantly provide us with all these pleasures, both spiritual as well as physical. Thus, the Torah does not instruct us to rejoice when our joy cannot also exist in the physical sense. This incomplete joy is not the joy that Hashem desires, nor instructs.
We are all familiar with the concept that Hashem created us in kindness with the desire to practice kindness to us. It is heartening to appreciate to what extent Hashem is concerned with our every need and desire.
Based on the talks of Rav Henach Leibowitz – co-authored by Rabbi Shimon Zehnwirth
“Now, the son of an Israelite woman and he was the son of an Egyptian man went out …[and] pronounced the [Divine] Name and cursed…” (Vayikra 24 10-11)
According to Rabeinu Bechaye’s explanation, the Torah felt it necessary to teach us a lesson in the holiness of every Jew – under normal circumstances he would never lower himself to curse Hashem. Nevertheless, this lesson comes at the cost of a great degradation of Hashem’s name by publicizing this story of chilul Hashem to everyone forever. Was it worthwhile to “disgrace” the honor of Hashem just to give us a greater depth of appreciation for the greatness of the Jewish soul?
*Our sages tell us that her lack of modesty brought about her tragic union with the Egyptian.
chofetzchaimMemberYeshiva Chofetz Chaim is going.
chofetzchaimMemberHere we are 3 years later and I have once again B”H finished Shas Mishnayos for taanis bechorim.
chofetzchaimMemberbump
chofetzchaimMemberNo beer and no chickpeas so there’s no way to be yotzei. Also, you can’t eat after afikomen anyway.
On a more serious note, I guess it shouldn’t be any different then Yom Kippur. Have your friends come over for Nirtzah and you can sing Chad Gadya together and smell bisomim.
chofetzchaimMemberNo Kosher l’Pesach coke in CA this year because of a new law that does not allow the caramel coloring because it can cause cancer if you drink 1000 cans per day.
chofetzchaimMemberAnd here is the heavy duty one – http://tinyurl.com/heavydutycart
chofetzchaimMemberbpt, here’s one for you: http://tinyurl.com/bptcart
chofetzchaimMemberBeep beep tech shop 🙂
Pi Tech – for a well rounded computer geek.
ManiaComputers.
chofetzchaimMemberI know a family who named their first daughter Rishona.
chofetzchaimMemberThe Man from Shushan
TTTO: Man From Vilna Journeys 4
I met a man last purim, who was on his way back home,
From the purim seudah, and was travelling alone,
He said he was from Shushan, a liar I could tell,
And I helped him with his bottle, he could not hold it very well
I handed him a bucket, and he filled it very fast,
He was talking incoherently, I could tell that he was trashed,
Then he shared with me a story that has changed my view of booze
From evening until morning, filling up the room with wine,
Though we had no sechel , to help us keep our heads,
In their place we had the cans, and the bottles and the kegs
I remember Simchas Torah, wine and beer were intertwined
What to drink and where to dance, and how to leave my brain behind
And then the scene before my eyes shook us to the core,
Someone foolishly had spilled out, a bottle on the floor
We ran as one towards the mess, our minds no time to think,
We bent down and lapped it up, in defiance we would drink,
And as I sat there crying, I vowed right there and then
Not to let a drop of alcohol, go to waste again
From evening until morning, filling up the room with wine,
Though we had no marijuana, to puff and get us high,
Instead we had the whiskey, and the bourbon and the rye
It took many drinks to get there, Absolut and J&B
Then I saw four children crying, and suddenly I knew
This morning when I woke up, I was hit by a brick wall
I had drunk so many ounces, close to four hundred in all,
But slowly there was healing, blank thoughts now mixed with light
From evening until morning, filling up the room with wine,
Though we had no Sifrei Torah to clutch close in our arms,
In their place we held those bottles, the Purim Seudah would go on
chofetzchaimMemberFor Yevamos we have:
Vchol asher – asher ya’aseh, mikol hatoeivos ha’eileh…
And then there’s the famous redneck family tree poem that goes well with Yevamos.
Then there’s Asher Bara:
Asher bara yetzer hara…
gaava, taiva, kinna, v’sinah, shfichas damim, v’gilui arayos.
chofetzchaimMemberA friend of mine had a girl today. Their 2nd February 29th girl. The older daughter turns 4 (1?) years old today.
Probability of matching birthdays with 4 kids
Any date: 1.6%
Specific date: .006%
Having a kid born on 2/29: .068%
2 on 2/29 out of 4: .00028%
chofetzchaimMemberSyag Lchochma, you might want to try Kangen Water. Email [email protected] for information about it.
chofetzchaimMemberSoleik, he is deciding between a $225 machine and a $310 one. I think your suggestion is just a bit out of his price range. Unless you are sponsoring. Maybe he should wish upon a star…
January 25, 2012 4:36 am at 4:36 am in reply to: How can we get Gingrich to come & work at YWN??? #846050chofetzchaimMemberNewt Gingrich sounds like a name J.K. Rowling made up.
chofetzchaimMemberAnybody hear from Am Yisrael Chai lately? He is missed here too.
chofetzchaimMemberHey look, the Stanleys are back.
chofetzchaimMemberThe Brilliant Wisdom of King Solomon
by Baruch C. Cohen, Esq.
in loving memory of Hindy Cohen
The Brilliant Wisdom of King Solomon by Baruch C. Cohen, Esq.
1. INTRODUCTION
2. HOW PRINCE SOLOMON ACQUIRED DIVINE WISDOM
The Book of Kings [Sefer Melachim]
Two women came to King Solomon and stood before him. One woman (#1) said: “My Lord, this woman and I dwell in the same house, and I gave birth to a child while with her in the house. On the third day after I gave birth, she also gave birth. We live together; there is no outsider with us in the house; only the two of us were there. The son of this woman died during the night because she lay upon him. She arose during the night and took my son from my side while I was asleep, and lay him in her bosom, and her dead son she laid in my bosom. When I got up in the morning to nurse my son, behold, he was dead! But when I observed him (later on) in the morning, I realized that he was not my son to whom I had given birth!”
The other woman (#2) replied: “It is not so! My son is the live one and your son is the dead one!”
The first woman (#1) responded: “It is not so! Your son is the dead one and my son is the living one!”
They argued before King Solomon.
King Solomon said, “Bring me a sword!” So they brought a sword before the King. The King said, “Cut the living child in two, and give half to one and half to the other”
The woman (#2) turned to the King, because her compassion was aroused for her son, and said: “Please my Lord, give her the living child and do not kill it!”
The King spoke up and said: “Give her (#2) the living child, and do not kill it, for she is his mother!” All of Israel heard the judgment that the King had judged. They had great awe for the King, for they saw that the wisdom of God was within him to do justice. . The woman was rightfully awarded custody of her son.
4. PRELIMINARY BEHIND-THE-SCENES OBSERVATIONS
According to the Abarbanel and Metzudas David, King Solomon studied the countenance of each woman as they presented their claims and counter-claims, and by means of his penetrating and heavenly wisdom, understood which of the two women was telling the truth.
Still, to prove this to the people, he had to demonstrate it in a way that everyone would acknowledge. Perhaps that is why he pretended not to know who said what, and repeated their arguments in reverse order, by repeating Woman #2’s argument first, and Woman # 1’s argument second.
He even pretended to apply the well-known law of dividing disputed property. If two people come to court holding on to the ends of a piece of clothing, and each claims it to be his, the court divides it and gives each one half. King Solomon seemed to pretend to be ignorant of the many complicated details of this law, and to think that it applied to babies as well, which would have been ridiculously simpleminded. No judge would ever make such a foolish mistake. Yet, he succeeded in convincing the two women that he was serious.
5. WHICH WOMAN-LITIGANT HAD THE BETTER ARGUMENT?
Notwithstanding the outcome, many believe that Woman #1 still made a convincing and persuasive argument. She made it clear that there were no witnesses because they lived alone. Perhaps she suspected that Solomon would be able to tell how old the baby was and identify the mother. According to the Radak and the Metsudas David, her argument was bolstered by the claim that no one else knew the identities of the babies, nor had one been sick, that the neighbors might remember whose baby it was. When she first got up, it was still dark. She could not recognize the baby, so she did not suspect that it was not hers. All she knew was that it was dead. But when it got light, she saw it and realized what had happened. She asserted that her baby boy was born three days earlier, and therefore there was some reliable distinction available.
Woman #2 had only a brief presentation and did not claim to have any proof. She simply said that the live child was hers. All she did was state her case.
Based on the first round of oral arguments, it would appear that Woman #1 had the better claim, and that she was the real mother.
It is noteworthy, that Woman #1 did not bring the corpse of the dead child for further identification (blood or DNA testing). Perhaps the child was buried already, or its features were already changed making recognition difficult.
6. TESTIMONIES UNRAVELING – SUBTLE MOTIVES EMERGING
According to the Devorim Rabah, King Solomon then repeated the arguments of both women, verbatim, without adding anything, making sure that he properly understood the arguments of both sides, listening carefully, and if there was anything that he misunderstood, the women had an opportunity to correct him.
7. A STUNNING & ILLOGICAL REVERSAL OF POSITIONS
Second, the woman who was lying (#1) was initially interested in taking the living child for herself, otherwise she never would have asserted such a bold and aggressive claim in the first place.
I have always wondered what made the liar speak and suddenly lose interest in having the child for herself? Why did she reverse herself? It defies logic.
8. THE LAWS OF YIBBUM
The Torah describes the practice of Yibbum in the Parsha of Ki Setzei (Devarim 25:5,7,9):
9. LAWS CONCERNING THE CHILDLESS NATURE OF THE DECEASED
Rule # 1: The man must die childless. According to the Talmud Bavli Yevamos 87b, Dying childless includes instances where a man once had children, but these children were already dead at the time of his own death.
Rule #2: Grandchildren: According to the Talmud Bavli Yevamos 70a, if the deceased man has no living children but he does have living grandchildren, he is not considered to be childless, and therefore, there is no Yibbum obligation.
Rule # 5: Minor: According to the Talmud Bavli Yevamos 105b, if the brother of the deceased is a minor, the widow is still bound to him, and does not have the option of freeing herself through Chalitzah since a minor lacks capacity to perform the ceremony. Instead she must wait until the brother reaches the age of majority (Bar Mitzvah 13) in order for him to render Chalitzah at that time. Only then may she remarry. According to the Talmud Bavli Niddah 45a if she wants to marry him, she must wait until he reaches 9 years of age.
11. APPLICATION & CONCLUSION
The Midrash (Yalkut Shimoni 2:175) asserts that the husbands of the two women were father and son, making the two women, mother-in-law (#2) and daughter-in-law (#1) to each other.
According to the Meiri in his commentary to Talmud Bavli Yevamos 17a, the two Midrashim may be complementing each other – thanks to our 5-rule Yibbum analysis.
King Solomon realized all of this and suspected that since the only one with a strong motive to lie was the daughter-in-law (#1), the child must really belong to the mother-in-law (#2).
Perhaps this also explains why King Solomon ordered that the child be cut in half.
Dear Mr. Cohen: Thank you for your letter of August 6. I appreciate having a list of the major Jewish holidays for the coming year. Your article on the famous Solomonic judgment was utterly fascinating. I was familiar with the law of Yibbum (though not in all the detail you describe)… The mother-in-law daughter-in-law explanation causes the whole incident (including Solomon’s confidence in the false mother’s reaction) to make sense. I guess even the most difficult riddle can be solved when you have three thousand years’ worth of scholars to work on the problem. Many thanks for the insight, conveyed with style and absolute clarity. Justice Antonin Scalia, United States Supreme Court
chofetzchaimMemberInheritance
chofetzchaimMemberYou gotta have pa-a-a-a-a-a-atience!
chofetzchaimMemberYes, the site is for real. It is being sold directly by M&M enterprises by Rabbi Eliezer Grunberg of Torah Academy of Buffalo Grove
chofetzchaimMemberI won a free Kosher Clock!
chofetzchaimMemberIt’s that time of year again…
I flip my latkes in the air sometimes…
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