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Hello99, I owe you an apology, I did get my facts wrong. In 1972 the Russian wheat crop failed and they bought much if not all of the US wheat surplus. So indeed, before 1972 , wheat was all probably yoshon, but after 1972, it was not.
Living in Israel, I have no problems with chodosh, and I do not know what the current state is in Chutz La’aretz. I will reitterate what I believe, and that is the klal should make the utmost effort to obtain yoshon, as the Bach’s heter would not have been issued today.
emunah613, ouch. I sincerely hope you meant Shabbtai Zvi who fooled so many people. The Chacham Zvi was one of the great poskim of his generation(the late sixteen hundreds) and was the father of Rav Yaakov Emden, a most energetic fighter against anything connected to Shabbtai Zvi.
Sam2, you are correct, ???? is not necessarily what we call wheat. Any serious discussion must refer to the scientific names and not to the common names.I think that we should do what is commonly done and not worry too much about it.
All five types of grain are included in the issur of chodosh. What these five types are is debatable. ???? is what we call wheat. The rest are debatable. Since there are many types of grains that are similar but not identical, and since some of what we call grains (oats, spelt)did not exist in Israel in biblical times, the identification of these five grains is anything but simple.
Dear Am yisrael chai,
Old man is perfectly ok with me. Yes, Down’s is not a fatal disease c”v. The Tzitz Eliezer has a tshuva on it. I’ll leave it at that.
Hacham, I think it’s unfortunate that you feel that way. You need not pay any attention to what I write in the future.
Hacham: No disrespect intended to teshuvos. A good book relating to the history of psak halachah can be illuminating. For instance, when discussing yibum and halitza it is esential to understand the culture of Moslem/Arabic countries in the Middle Ages;otherwise the teshuvos are in a vacuum that cannot be understood. So too with the Chasam Sofer; some of his teshuvos are bewildering without knowledge of the history of the Enlightenment and Reform. Teshuvos on mechiras chametz do not make sense unless one understands the economic system of the Jewish businessman two hundred years ago. This information is best delivered in various books that quote many teshuvos and explain them in the context of the times they were written. I can give you a list of good books if you are interested.
Ok, Gavra, thanks for understanding my annoyance, we’re cool.
I will explain myself. You are absolutely correct that the Bach makes no apologies and unlike the beginning of his piece, towards the end he unequivocally states that his opinion is emes. Methinks he protests too much. We all know that beyond the shakla v’tarya there are metahalachic considerations among poskim. These include migdar milsa, hefsed merubah, limud zchus, tzorech harabim, tzorech gadol, hora’as sha’ah and the like. I feel that the Bach was confronted with an embarrasing situation, that of only a precious few honoring the issur of chodosh and he was determined lelamed zchus. I think he was too determined and showed it. My personal opinion is that he would have been happy had it been a halachah that all kept like chametz b’pesach and would have supported an issur goref. Can I prove my opinion? No, of course not. But that’s the way I see it.
Health, yes, that is true. The chocolate bars should keep him going for a while, though. In any case, a decent meal should be the best.
Health, I can agree with that.
Don’t be condescending, you don’t know me. I read the Bach from beginning to end. I stand by my opinion. If you have read books on the history of psak, you have seen where my my point of view stems from. You can disagree with my opinion, but if you make snide comments, don’t bother continuing this conversation.
no
Health, with all due respect, and after much thought, please forgive me for declining to respond to your question. I do have a ready response. However, I feel that the question is too sensitive for this informal and much read forum.
Not to worry, I don’t mind being disagreed with.
First of all, if the wheat is yoshon, then there is no need for a heter, it is muttar. There’s nothing to say about it. For those who remember, after the US and Russia reached a nuclear agreement in the 70s, the US obligated itself to buy huge amounts of Russian wheat. This in itself caused so much of an oversupply of wheat that by the time it came to market, the probability that it was already yoshon was very high indeed. Halachic problem solved.
Second, I suspect that yoshon was not available in the spring before Pesach in the Rama’s and Bach’s time. I will check this out with an expert in the history of agriculture. After Pesach this problem dissolves of course, until the next season.
Third, I do believe that “klal yisrael works like that”. Whatever halachic casuistic pyrotechnics that are necessary in one era can be rejected in another era. This does not reflect on the spiritual level or merits of any given person or group at any time. There are numerous examples of this if you go through shutim of previous eras. If yoshon is readily available nowadays, I believe that the Bach’s explanation can be rejected and I believe he would reject it also. This does not mean that anyone was over an issur d’oraiso ever. Al pi hatorah asher yorucha.We do the best we can under the circumstances. That’s what the Bach did and that’s the best we can do. HKBH has it figured out and there’s no need to worry about it.
The fastest acting energy boost is honey. Second place goes to chocolate. So some tea with lots of honey, water for hydration, and a few chocolate bars should get you going.
Sam2 is correct here. Anyone who learns the sugya sees that chodosh is an issur d’oraiso even in chutz la’aretz, only lumdishe pyrotechnics can dispute this. And yet we find that for whatever reason, it was not kept. Since it is inconceivable from a theological point of view that Am Yisrael transgressed an issur d’oraiso for so long, the Bach came up with a way to deal with it. We did not pasken like the Bach, we simply accepted the Bach’s explanation. Nowadays when yoshon is easily available, it is just as inconceivable that we not change our old ways. It is not a chumrah, the mishna is quite clear about it. I think it is obvious that had yoshon been readily available in the days of the Bach, no heter would have been offered.
Hacham, with all due respect, your statement is not true. As I said before, in Eretz Yisrael Rav Waldenberg’s opinion is accepted and Reb Moshe’s opinion is rejected. You will not see this in any newspaper,news item, or quotable psak. But that is what is done and it is done very quietly.
Health:
I specifically avoided using the word “mattir”. In many cases, the posek will not pasken, but he may do one of the following:
1. Quote a lenient psak from a different posek
2. Send the questioner to a posek who will be mattir
3. Send the questioner to a doctor who “will tell you what needs to be done”
This way, the posek cannot be quoted l’heter, and he may not even agree with the heter. But in the final analysis, it gets done and it gets done quickly and quietly.
For the protection of those who may not be mature enough to handle it, I will refrain from mentioning the specific instances where the above occurs. It will suffice to say that due to the overwhelming success of Dor Yesharim, there are very few shailos regarding fatal genetic diseases. Most of the instances do not involve genetic disease or any other disease. These instances are dealt with in the first trimester for the most part, and do not require the Tzitz Eliezer’s seven month criterion.
I agree with Haifagirl’s attitude on spelling and thought expression. It may be difficult for young minds to appreciate this, but the quality of one’s writing greatly influences the degree that the thoughts expressed will be understood and even accepted. For the lamdanim here, please read the stories of Reb Chaim Brisker’s self editing and draw the conclusion.
Dear hello99,
I will not quote major poskim that disagree with you, I have not received their permission to publicize their (lenient) views. I know what happens behind closed doors and apparently you also make the same claim. So we disagree on two levels, one on what the poskim say, and two, what actually happens. I can leave it at that, we both know that our disagreement doesn’t change the mitzius or the halachah.
The reason that the yeshivishe uniform remains with the black hat is because society encourages labeling and compartmentalizing. It is a product of social evolution and occurs in all societies, albeit in varying degrees and nuances. It contributes to a feeling of identification and belonging to a specific cultural group. By nature, it will not “go back” to the styles of previous generations. Will it change in the future? Everything changes.
To hello99,
I respect your lumdus and your impeccable Rabbinical credentials. However, in addition to shakla v’tarya of the sugya, written piskei halachah, and halachah l’maiseh, there is another level, called “what actually happens out there”. I can tell you with absolute certainty that in Eretz Yisrael when the issue arises in the chareidi veldt, what ends up happening is not according to Reb Moshe zt”l and those who agree with him.
You seem to have an expectation that your husband can and should change his behavior to be more like your father’s. This is a mistaken approach and will cause you serious trouble in the future. The attitude that needs to be changed is yours, not his.
The first three are d’rabbonon and must be followed. As dinei d’rabbonon, they have evolved over time.You should follow your posek.
Chodosh/Yoshon has also evolved over time, but is really a d’oraiso and should be followed strictly.
Not speaking the entire yom kippur is yuhara.
Borsalino
The answer is a complex mathematical equation that takes into account the rate of rainfall, the volume of rain per cubic meter and the rate of running or walking.The answer will change according to these variable parameters.
For example, if walking is better (less wet) than running, that does not mean that walking even slower is even better because then standing still would be the driest option and that cannot be. From the other side, even if one would run at the speed of light, he would catch all the drops available at that instant and still get wet.
A very famous question with a not-so-simple solution.
I can find at least five different ways of defining dveikus. The term has been used by litivishe and chassidishe rabbonim and rebbes in many different ways in order for them to convey their specific message. Hence the use of the term in any debate doesn’t contribute to the understanding of either position.
“Even Rabbi Waldenberg limited his ruling to painful terminal conditions such as Tay-Sachs and would certainly not permit abortion for benign conditions like Down Syndrome”
This statement is not true. Rav Waldenberg specifically discusses Down’s Syndrome and does not “certainly not permit” abortion in those cases. Read ALL his teshuvas on the subject and then draw conclusions.
The source that when an abortion needs to be performed it should be done by a female Jewish physician is the Tzitz Eliezer, Rav Eliezer Waldenberg zt”l. Rav Waldenberg was considered to be the foremost posek in Eretz Yisrael on medical-halachic issues. I cannot be sure, but it seems reasonable that Rav Leff bases his opinion on the Tzitz Eliezer.
The Tzitz Eliezer’s opinions on abortion can be found in Chelek 8, 9, 13,14 and 15. In Chelek 8 he has a long piece on the subject,in the others he discusses specific situations.
One must understand that the “derech halimud” has seen many variations over the generations, and certainly over the centuries. For various reasons, learning was at times fast (one daf a day in Volozhin), slower and more focused (nashim and nezikin only) in Slobodka-influenced yeshivas, slower still in the extremely focused Chofetz Chaim derech, and blazingly fast in sefardic yeshivas. Who is right? They all are.
A Rebbe who cries over the fact that he is challenged by the breadth of shas when he spent his early learning days focused on the first perek in one of only seven mesechtas, need not cry, and his learning was not in vain. For a real lamdan, bekius should be easily attained with a concerted effort over a year or two. He should certainly know the basics of shas even from his limited scope.
So, do not despair, anyone. Just change direction if you feel the lack, it’s not too late.