Parashat Shavua

Hemdat Yamim Parashat B'halotcha

Hemdat Yamim Parshat B'ha'alotcha 14 Sivan 5762 ============================================== This edition of Hemdat Yamim is dedicated to the memory of R' Meir ben Yechezkel Shraga Brachfeld o.b.m. ============================================== Eretz Hemdah is the premier institution for training young rabbi's to take the Israeli Rabbinate's rigorous Yadin Yadin examinations. With its distinctive blend of Religious Zionist philosophy and scholarship coupled with community service, Eretz Hemdah ensures its graduates emerge with the finest training, the noblest motivations and the strongest connection to Jewish communities worldwide. ============================================== Even Moshe Rabbenu Had to Ask / Harav Moshe Zvi Polin There is a Yiddish expression to the effect that if one asks a question of Kashrut, it [the food] is trefah. Unlike most Yiddish expression, this one is neither rational nor accurate. Why bother to ask if the answer is presumably known? Moreover, for over 1500 years Jews have asked something like 350,000 questions that have been recorded in our Responsa (She'eilot u'Teshuvot) literature. In fact, the Responsa provide insight into the conditions of Jewish life throughout the ages. More importantly, the Responsa is the process by which the Torahs relevance for every age and place is revealed. Nothing is more intrinsically Jewish, therefore, than asking questions. Parashat Behaalotekha contains an example of a question that was posed to Moshe--which he could not answer! "There were some men who were tame by reason of [contact with] a corpse and could not offer the Pesah sacrifice on [the proper] day. Appearing before Moshe and Aharon, they said: '...Why should we be debarred from presenting the Lord's offering at its set time with the rest of the Israelites?' Moshe said to them, 'Stand by, and let me hear what instructions the Lord gives about you'" (Bamidbar 9:6-9). Rashi notes, based upon the Sifre, that these men were "committed to observing mitzvot" and had in fact come with a proposed solution to resolve their disqualification. This was one of four instances when Moshe coluld not answer a question and had to turn to Hashem for an answer. The others were the respective punishments for the blasphemer (Vayyikra 24:10-14) and the Shabbat violator (Bemidbar 15:32-36) and inheritance by daughters (Bemidbar 27:1-11). If Moshe Rabbenu was not ashamed to admit that he didn't know the answers, no Jew should ever be ashamed to ask questions. One should not assume that he knows the law; he should ask. The question need not be earth shattering, and it should be asked primarily for reasons of learning and doing rather than idle curiosity. Finally, one should know that rabbis do not treat questions lightly. "The question of the wise is already half the answer" (Migdal Oz to Rambam, Hilkhot Teshuvah). One becomes wise by asking questions, and the wise continue to ask. ======================================================================= P'ninat Mishpat - Matzranut - Permission From Neighbor (1) We have seen that a neighbor (matzran) of a recently sold field can remove its buyer if he is willing to pay its price. How can a buyer avoid this very unpleasant circumstance? The classical poskim bring some possibilities, of which we will mention a couple: 1.The seller asks the matzran if he is interested in buying the property and he says :"Sell it to whomever you want. I don't want it" (Shulchan Aruch, Choshen Mishpat 175:30). The S'ma (ad loc.) stipulates that the seller must tell the matzran the price at which he intends to sell it, and he must actually sell it for that price. Otherwise, it is possible that the matzran was afraid it would be overpriced, because the seller would want to make "an extra buck" on him. 2.The buyer approached the matzran and made a kinyan sudar to ensure a full-fledged commitment not to exercise his right of matzranut (Shulchan Aruch, ibid.29). Some say that if he makes a declaration that he relinquishes rights in the presence of witnesses whom he designates as such, a kinyan is not necessary (ibid.). After the sale is completed, it is somewhat easier to prevent further claims. We will discuss that element of the topic next week. ================================================================ Moreshet Shaul (from the works of Hagaon Harav Shaul Yisraeli zt"l) "Erasing Hashem's Name from a Cassette Tape" (excerpts from Amud Hay'mini, siman 42) [We are reprinting this article from last year, because the issue if illegible names of Hashem has arisen in the Israeli press recently. This is not a p'sak halacha, and the circumstances are not identical, but....]. Rav O. Yosef (Yabia Omer IV, YD 20) shlita brings several reasons for permitting erasing Hashem's name from a cassette tape. One can take issue with some of the claims. He quotes Even Y'kara who allows entering a bathroom with a microfilm copy of Tanach. The rationale is that writing which is so small that it cannot be read by the naked eye is not considered writing, with all its halachic ramifications. He brings a proof that microscopically sized objects are halachically non- existent from the fact that even the healthiest animal has tiny holes in its lungs, yet it is not a treifa since holes of that size do not count. The assumption Rav Yosef makes is that the prohibition to erase Hashem's name applies only when letters which are halachically recognized as K'tav (writing) are erased. However, it would appear that desecration of the name of Hashem is not dependent on the status of writing per se, but on any object which is read as Hashem's name . The reading does not need to be through the visual sense but can even be oral (as with a cassette). After all, as far as unnecessarily uttering Hashem's name, speaking is more stringent than writing His name. Even the aforementioned Even Y'kara says that one must treat the names of Hashem within a microfilm of Tanach with respect. What difference is there between the names of Hashem and the Tanach itself? The Holy Scriptures require a written text to receive kedusha and possess the related special halachot. But regarding Hashem's name, whatever is a manifestation of His name, even if it is illegible, must not be desecrated, and most prominently, not erased. That which the Even Y'kara allows one to enter a bathroom with the "names" that are included in the Tanach is due to the fact that, in their microscopic form, they are considered covered, not non-existent. Certainly one cannot erase a covered name of Hashem. Rav Yisraeli agreed that the cassette tape, as opposed to the microfilm, can be erased for another reason [Ed. note - We should note that Rav Yosef also mentions this distinction]. The tape does not contain a name of Hashem which just needs a machine's help in reading. Rather, there are only imprinted codes which prompt the tape player to create the sounds of Hashem's names. The player does not "read" the sounds of the tape but uses electric impulses to mimic the voice that was coded on the tape. Thus, microfilm "names" need to be preserved and the cassette tape does not. ==================================================================== Ask the Rabbi Question: I am a woman who lives alone. Do I need to make Havdalah on Motzaei Shabbat? Answer: There is a disagreement whether women are required to make what we call Havdalah (they certainly make 'Hamavdil' before doing work forbidden on Shabbat) on Motzaei Shabbat or not. The issue is as follows. Havdalah is a mitzvat asei shehazman g'rama (time dependent mitzva) and, as such, women should be exempt. On the other hand, Havdalah is similar to Kiddush, as we sanctify Shabbat when it enters and exits. Since there is a special source that women are obligated in the positive mitzvot of Shabbat, including Kiddush (Berachaot 20b), they should be obligated in Havdalah as well. Yet Kiddush is different in that it is more linked to the Shabbat experience than Havdalah, Thus, the exception to the rule, which obligates women in Kiddush, may not apply here. The Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chayim 296:8) brings two opinions but prefers the opinion which obligates women in Havdalah. However, the Rama, who serves as the primary authority for Ashkenazic Jewry, instructs women to avoid the issue by hearing Havdalah from a man, who certainly is obligated. The Bach (ad loc.) takes issue on the need to hear from a man, saying that a woman could always accept upon herself to make a Havdalah even if she is not obligated. There are an additional two issues, which arise when a woman makes her own Havdalah, which make it preferable to hear Havdalah from a man. There is a serious question whether she can make a bracha on the candle, as this is a time-dependent mitzva, which is only tangentially related to Havdalah (see Biur Halacha ad loc). Also, there is a minhag that women do not drink from the cup of Havdalah, but on the other hand, someone has to. In the final analysis, if a woman will not hear Havdalah from a man, she can and should make Havdalah and drink from the cup (see Mishna Berura 297:35 and Sha'ar Hatziun, ad loc.). A complication about hearing Havdalah from a man (which applies even to a husband and wife) is as follows. If one has fulfilled a mitzva, he can perform the mitzva again for someone else, if that other person is obligated in the mitzva. Since a woman may not be obligated, a man who already fulfilled Havdalah can make it again only if it is on behalf of another man (or male child) who has yet to hear Havdalah. If this is not the case, it is better for the woman to make Havdalah herself, which is possible, according to the Bach, even if she is not obligated. ===================================================================== Harav Shaul Israeli zt"l Founder and President Deans: Harav Yosef Carmel Harav Moshe Ehrenreich ERETZ HEMDAH 5 Ha-Mem Gimmel St. P.O.B 36236 Jerusalem 91360 Tel/Fax: 972-2-5371485 Email: eretzhem@netvision.net.il web-site: www.eretzhemdah.org American Friends of Eretz Hemdah Institutions c/o Olympian 8 South Michigan Ave. Suite 605 Chicago, IL 60603 USA Our Taxpayer ID#: 36-4265359

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