Gedolei Yisrael, primarily among the Sephardim, will on Thursday release a kol korei urging the tzibur not to ‘waste’ money on the sweets and exorbitant mishloach manos that have become customary over recent years.
Signing their name to the kol korei are Chacham Ovadia Yosef Shlita, Rav Shimon Badani Shlita, Rav Shalom Cohen Shlita, Rav Yehuda Meulam Shlita, Rav Shlomo Moshe Amar Shlita, Rav Eliyahu Bakshi Doron Shlita, Rav Yitzchak Yosef, Rav Mazuz, Rav Maimon, Rav Ben-Shimon, and Rav Elbaz.
The kol korei explains that the sweets and ostentatious mishloach manos are not necessarily in compliance with halacha, and are too costly, adding one should send foods that are suitable for the seduas yom, not sweets and other similar items.
Due to the difficult economic times, one should refrain from wasting one’s money and this includes the mishloach manos, stressing it is preferable for one to extend himself for tzedaka instead.
According to a Ladaat.net report, a similar kol korei is also going to be released for the Belzer community ahead of this Purim.
(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)
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27 Responses
A hiddush???? Is there another side to this? Has someone issued a “kol korei” in favor of junk food? Is there a source that aruges that Shalch Manos are more important than Matanos LeEvyonim???? Why is this not obvious???
Why is this news (if a Rav says “Gut Shabbos” it isn’t news, if Livni or Lieberman said “Gut Shabbos”, that would be news.
Thirty-five years ago as a bocher in yeshiva, I was rebuked for giving someone one Krembo and one sardine in a clear plastic bag. Some people have no sense of humor, even on Purim.
akuperma,
the clearest source is, Mishloach monos is two portions to one person, matonos l’evyonim is two portions to TWO people. DOUBLE the mitzvah!!
All it is saying is that there is no need to spend so much money on junk food when you can buy ready made food which can be used for the seuda. If people are not happy with what they get for Mishloach Manos then it is there problem. There is no reason for a person to over spend on junk food and baskets etc. when there are other people out there that can’t afford to give Mishloach Manos at all. All these years I’ve put alot of money into buying bags etc and candy and this year I realize that there is no need for it. Yes, it is a mitzva and the money is being spent on a mitzva but you don’t need to overspend. The halacha is 2 things to 2 people and that is it. Nowadays it has become a big money making business with everyone selling baskets for tons of money. There is no need for it. Thanks Yeshiva World for putting this out and I hope Klal Yisroel will follow and listen to the Rabbanim. Have a HAPPY PURIM!!!
Give food that the person can eat as a meal item. Make sure it is something appropriate to the recipient. Buy as much as you can,buying more gives more business and is good for the economy.
Alizak28…just want to correct you: the halacha says you need to give 2 manos to ONE PERSON, not two pp! But i agree with your points!
#4 read #3 a very common mistake, its 2to1 for shalach manos and 2to2 for poor people
Isn’t this kol korei a little late? Shopping has been busy the past few weeks, who doesn’t have their “theme” yet?
My Rav spoke about this last week. After the orders were closed for our shul’s Mishloach Manot fundraiser!
#3 – As I recall the halacha (perhaps it is only some fanatic hasidic rebbe), one should put ones efforts into Matonos Leevyonim rather than in having millions of Shalach Manos.
and I think it is “at least” not “not more than”
and its disturbing for gedolim to feel the need to remind people about these – like, what’s next, remind people to daven???
reb Fishel Shechter tells the folllowing story: a husband sees the wife preparing elaborate shlach moneses, so he tells his wife according to halacha u just need 2 things so his wife answers him: Dont mix religion into this!
See Rambam Hichos Megila 2:17, where the Rambam says it is better to increase matanos leevyonim than to increase the seuda and mishloach manos. He adds that there is nothing better than to be mesameiach the hearts of aniyim, yesomim, etc.
#1
You forgot to close your brackets. But is that really a hiddush??
we live in a time, where merchandising rules peoples mind.in jewish neighborhoods all the stores are gun-ho with humongous shalach monos; and the people follow the trend.the fund raisers for shuls are not bad at all the price is nominal and it makes it easy to give many of your neighbors easily,while at the same time a good organization is making some money.
It is a bit lat, given that UPS has already shipped most of the extravagant packages…..
9 and 15, many people avail themselves of such services but still give out a number of personal packages.
Can anyone tell me a makor for this that people say that the mishloach manos needs to be of TWO different brachos? I think somebody must have made that up because I can’t find it anywhere.
Sorry. I forgot that it was 2 things to one person. In any case, it may be too late but this will be good as a reminder for next year and just in general. #10 Yes, the gedolim need to remind us because if they don’t who will? Everyone (ok, maybe not everyone) spends so much money on Purim Baskets etc and they have so many people to give and then you end up broke. There is no mitzva to be broke for one Holiday. There is a mitzva to spend money for the Holiday but not to go overboard. About the food issue, it is a smart idea to give foods instead of nosh etc. however alot of people don’t eat certain hechsharim and some people are makpid Cholov Yisroel so if we would give it to them and they can’t eat it then how would we feel? Unless you know for a fact that the person can eat that certain hechshor and that it is Cholov Yisroel. I think the Rabbi’s of the shuls should speak about it this issue however they should have spoken about it before everyone went and bought their Mesholach Manos. Have a Happy Purim!!!
From a purely economic point of view, there is zero waste when someone buys a extravagant SM for someone. 100% of this industry is frum, so the money just gets passed around and the economy gets stimulated.
Thats not to Kasher waistful spending on an individual level, but if your talking purely economics, there is no commu8nal waste at all.
as far as i remember, we always learned in school (which was a while ago, so i may be wrong) that mishloach is singular (meaning one person) and manos is plural (meaning two types). i dont know the actual m’kor, but i can guess. an apple and an orange, for example, are the same type because they have the same bracha. my husband told me today that he thinks one of them needs to be a m’zonos, but i dont remember hearing that.
Yatzmich: I, too, believe that is a myth – there is, I think, even a mention somewhere of two slices of meat as an option for MM, which clearly share the same bracha.
I have never heard, quoted inside, the alleged halacha of two different minim/brachos for mishloach manos.
akuperma #1 you sound like a third grader asking what’s the big chiddush of Shlomo Hamelech when he said Havel Havelim…
The chiddush is that these Gedolim include Chacham Ovadia and the chiddush is that they said it. period. Your job is to sit and wonder.
Eventually you will learn something from it.
#19 are u arguing with the rabbanim??? Some of u sound like total apikorsim its disgusts me!! Who are u to argue??
There should be a cap on matza prices and esrogim too.
We have a personal minhag [not really a minhag but it is what we practice]: we spend more on matanos la’evyonim [not from ma’aser money], than we spend on mishloach manot. This helps limit the mishloach manot spending & increases the matanot la’evyonim we would otherwise have given. It is a difficult minhag – but surely worthwhile.
I clearly remember learning that Purim is K’yom Kipporim and that if we want our Creator to love us we have to make amends with all those whom we offended. Therefore people make efforts to send nice mishloach manot to keep good feelings circulating among the Jews. This is why many yeshiva parents send their childrens’ teachers beautiful mishloach manot. I believe that this kol koreh is for those who feel the need to overspend beyond their means for Purim because of communal pressure. If you have bad feelings with a rav, neighbor, fellow student, kollel avreich, co-worker, or family member, putting time and effort into a mishloach manot greatly lessens and often dissolves hurt feelings. Very often it is not even dependent on amount of money spent but on the efforts involved. A small mishloach manot with a friendly note attached goes a long way in cheering up a person. Writing a check takes a minute, but baking, wrapping and decorating a platter and putting effort into it shows the person you want to harbor good will. I am not arguing with the kol koreh, I just understand it to mean that one should keep their priorities straight and not overdo the mishloach manot.
#27
Sorry buddy, but you’ve got it the wrong way round: Yom Kippur is like Purim, hence K’-Purim. Don’t worry – its a common mistake.
Incidentally judging by the enormous amounts of mishloach manot this year that we received no one got to this kol koreh in time or it was not made public enough. Has anyone found that there was ANY effort to tone things down?