Special Features REPORT: Chol HaMoed at the Israel Center Chol HaMoed mornings featured a different shiur each day and refreshments in our rooftop Sukka. The real Simcha of Chag is Torah learning - and so it was at the Israel Center. Sunday night, there were over 40 attendees in our Sukka for our Singles Evenings where there was entertainment by a juggler and Divrei Torah by Rabbi Meir Weiner. Monday evening, the auditorium was jam packed with 200+ women to hear the beautiful music of Reb Shlomo Carlebach as sung by his daughter, Neshama Carlebach. Though there was barely any free floor space, the women danced and sang and didn’t leave 'til the wee hours of the morning. Tuesday night was Movie night with the screening of “Deep Impact”, a thought-provoking film about a potential worldwide disaster and how people cope (or not) with it. We received very positive feedback and have been asked to provide more movie nights throughout the year. Wednesday evening, Simcha reigned Supreme at Tofa’ah’s Simchat Beit HaShoeva for women. Our rooftop was rocking with song & dance - as always a very inspiring evening with Tofa’ah. Thursday night, Leil Hoshana Raba, began with a reception in our rooftop Sukka. This was followed by our first speaker of the evening, Rabbi Sholom Gold, who spoke about the little-studied sedras and their message for our time. Rabbi Aharon Adler then spoke of the sanctity of Sukkot, Hoshana Rabba and Simchat Torah. RabbiShlomo Riskin capped off the evening with an inspiring talk on the psychology of Chagim and Mitzvot, and their hidden messages. An overflow crowd thoroughly enjoyed our triple-header of all-star speakers.
THE JERUSALEM INSTITUTE OF JEWISH LAW R. Emanuel Quint, Dean Lesson #9 - Powers of the Beth Din (of non-ordained judges) Unlike the Great Sanhedrin that consists of seventy-one judges and the Lesser Sanhedrins that consist of 23 judges, the Beth Din is a small local court that consists of three judges. In this and the next few lessons the power (jurisdiction) of the Beth Din shall be described. Today the Beth Din retains only some of the powers it had when ordination was still practiced. With the lapse of ordination, it lost some of its powers. In Lesson #8, citing a passage in Talmud Gittin, it is stated that non-ordained judges assumed jurisdiction over divorce cases. There is a case in Baba Kamma 84b that also helped establish the doctrine of jurisdiction by non-ordained judges over certain types of cases. These two cases form the basis of the current jurisdictionof Beth Dins anywhere in the world to decide cases and to compel litigants to appear before them to have the case judged. In the case in Baba Kamma, an ox chewed the hand of a small child. When the case came before the great scholar Rava, he ordered compensation according to a formula in the nature of a penalty, in addition to the monetary payment. When he was questioned that only ordained judges could order penalty payments, he answered thatin fact he referred only to the monetary payment, not the penalty. Even enforcing the money part of a judgment is limited to situations that both involve a loss of money and occur frequently. Divorce cases can be judged because it meets the frequency test although it does not always involve a loss of money. If the typeof case involves a loss of money but does not occur frequently or occurs frequently but does not involve a loss of money, the non-ordained judges do not have jurisdiction to compel the litigants to appear before it to be judged. With these two Talmudic passages, the one in Gittin and the one in Baba Kamma, all of life in society can continue. If there is no court system to enforce obligations people would not have any dealings, commercial or otherwise. "Might" would make "right", if the weak had no remedy when attacked by the strong. The first matters that the non-ordained judges took jurisdiction over were commercial matters. Or, as the Talmud calls them, matters of “loans” and “admissions”. The difference between a loan and an admission is that the loan refers to the actual transaction of a person borrowing money, from a bank or from a private individual.The term “admission” refers to a statement made by the debtor in the presence of witnesses who heard him admit that he owes the money to the creditor. If a Beth Din consisting of non-ordained judges did not have the power to judge these cases, all commerce would grind to a halt. Who would engage in a commercial transaction, whether a corporate merger involving billions of dollars or a simple purchase in a supermarket of a loaf of bread on credit. There must be a placewhere the injured party can seek redress against the wrongdoer. When I participated in a Beth Din in America, the cases were mostly in the area of contracts and for goods sold and delivered. Were the goods as specified in the contract? Were they delivered on time? Were they paid for? - and things relating to commerce.In Israel, more and more cases that come to our Beth Dins deal with contractors who claim additional payments and home owners who claim the work done does not comply with the contract or work order. Also there are many landlord/tenant disputes. In the Young Israel Rabbis Beth Din, we recently had a case dealing with hightech. These are all commercial cases and the fact that the party feels that there is a place where a remedy can be found for his claims, gives him the feeling that he can go into a business transaction. Reuven is married to Sarah. At or just prior to the wedding ceremony the Kethuba is written and signed. For the last 4 centuries, the Kethuba is usually read under the chuppah. The Kethuba has been described as a marriage contract. I prefer to call it a marriage obligation since it contains only obligations from the groomto the bride. A contract would contain reciprocal obligations and the Kethuba does not have any obligations from the bride to the groom. The terms of the Kethuba are accepted by the groom moments before standing under the chuppah (and in Jerusalem under the chuppah). The obligations are accepted by the groom performingan act of kinyan, such as lifting a handkerchief or some other object. While lifting the object a few inches he signifies his consent to be bound by the terms of the Kethuba. In essence, the Kethuba obligates the groom to provide financially for his wife during the term of their marriage. It also provides that in caseof his death, his wife has certain rights in his estate. The Kethuba also provides a minimum sum that the wife will collect in case the marriage terminates - either by death of the husband or by divorce. The minimum sum that the Kethuba can contain is 200 zuz for a virgin bride and 100 zuz for a lady who has been marriedpreviously. Very often additional sums may be put into the Kethuba, and these become the obligation of the husband with just as much force and effect as the 200 or 100 zuz. There are certain conditions to the Kethuba that are implied as if they were also stated in the Kethuba. The obligations of the husband to the wifeare 10: The first 3 are of Torah origin, (1) providing food; (2) clothing; and (3) her conjugal rights. The Rabbis added an additional 7, they are: (4) to provide medical care if she is ill; (5) to ransom her if she is captured; (6) to bury her if she dies; (7) to provide for her maintenance out of his estate in the caseof his death; (8) to permit her to dwell in her husband’s house after his death for the duration of her widowhood; (9) to permit her daughters sired by him to receive their maintenance out of his estate after his death; and (10) to permit her male children sired by him to inherit her Kethuba in addition to their sharewith their half-brothers in his estate. The Kethuba immediately places a lien on all of his property; owned at the time of marriage or acquired after the marriage. That is, if he owned some property and sold it and he divorces her or if he dies and there are not enough assets in the estate to pay her Kethuba, she may trace the sold property to the buyer. Thebuyer must pay her Kethuba or the property will be sold by Beth Din to pay her Kethuba. As can be seen, there are many family fights that can possibly erupt as a result of the money questions involved. The Beth Din of three judges has jurisdiction to adjudicate such matters. More on jurisdiction of the Beth Din regarding the Kethuba in the next lesson, IY"H. ELECTRONIC TT READERS: The hard copy of TT contains a 2-sheet, 8-page pull-out called BETWEEN HAFTARA & MUSAF. It contains the prayers said after the Haftara through the putting away of the Torah. Included are the Prayer for the State of Israel, for Israeli soldiers, and a special Mi SheBeiRach for Israel's missing soldiers. There is also a full Rosh Chodesh Benching, with dates, times, etc. What you find here is some of the English explanations that might prove informative even without all of the texts.
We bench Rosh Chodesh as a commemoration of the practice in the time of the Sanhedrin (past AND future) of proclaiming Rosh Chodesh based on the testimony of eye-witnesses who saw the first "sliver of light" of the new moon. We pray for a good month, announce the Molad (instance of the new moon), and announce the day(s)of the upcoming Rosh Chodesh. The introductory passage is modified for its monthly use from a prayer composed by RAV, as mentioned in the Gemara, originally intended for daily use. TEXT Notice that we ask G-d to "give us a life of..." 12 times - corresponding to the number of months in a year. Also notice that among the requests, we ask for YIR'AT SHAMAYIM twice. There are two explanations (probably more) to this fact. The first time we ask for YIR'AT SHAMAYIM, it is link with "fear of sin", or fear ofpunishment. This is the basic level of YIR'AT SHAMAYIM, a feeling motivated by YIR'A, fear. But the second time we ask for YIR'AT SHAMAYIM, it is paired with AHAVAT TORAH, love of Torah. This is a higher level of YIR'AT SHAMAYIM, better translated (perhaps) as REVERENCE for G-d, this time motivated by love. When our YIR'ATSHAMAYIM reaches that exalted level, then we can ask for a "life that G-d will fulfill the requests of our hearts to the good". The other explanation of our asking for YIR'AT SHAMAYIM have a distinctive Chasidic flavor to it. After the first time we ask G-d for a "life containing Fear of Heavens", we then ask for wealth and honor. A person so blessed, would need to ask for YIR'AT SHAMAYIM again, since wealth and honor are two things that lead aperson to the arrogant feeling of self-accomplishment. It is fairly "easy" to achieve YIR'AT SHAMAYIM when one is poor; the humility that usually accompanies poverty helps one achieve Fear of G-d. With wealth and honor, it behooves us to ask for YIR'AT SHAMAYIM anew. MOLAD The Tradition is to announce the Molad in Jerusalem Solar Time. This time is used by Jews all over the world, without adjusting for time zones or daylight savings time. To convert to local Israeli time (known as European time or Cairo's horizon), we subtract 21 minutes (more or less) in the winter and add 39 minutes whenwe have Summer Time. To adjust the Molad to your time zone (remember that the announcement uses the right column without adjustment), use the middle column and add or subtract the number of hours you are different from Israel. The actual Molad, based upon the motion of the Earth and Moon around the Sun, is presented FYI,and will be used by Sanhedrin to determine if the moon will be visible on the night following the 29th of the month or not. Tables do not often come out on email and the web the way they are intended, so the dates and times are being presented in text format For each of the next 12 months of 5760 (not including Tishrei), you will find (1) The name of the month (2) The Molad as announced (leave as is; do not adjust for locale or daylight savings time) (3) This same time translated into Israeli clock time (this you can adjust for locale time to make it more meaningful and relevant) (4) The actual molad, when the Moon is actually between the Earth and the Sun, in Israeli time. Can be adjusted. MarCheshvan, SUN 4h 28m 10p, Su/OCT 10, 04:08, SH/OCT 9, 13:35 Kislev, MON 17h 12m 11p, Mo/NOV 8, 16:52, Mo/NOV 8, 05:53 Tevet, WED 5h 56m 12p, We/DEC 8, 05:36, We/DEC 8, 00:32 Shvat, THU 18h 40m 13p, Th/JAN 6, 18:20, Th/JAN 6, 20:13 Adar Rishon, SHA 7h 24m 14p, SH/FEB 5, 07:04, SH/FEB 5, 15:02 Adar Sheni, SUN 20h 8m 15p, Su/MAR 5, 19:48, Mo/MAR 6, 07:16 Nissan, TUE 8h 52m 16p, Tu/APR 4, 09:32 sum., Tu/APR 4, 21:12 sum. Iyar, WED 21h 36m 17p, We/MAY 3, 22:16 sum., Th/MAY 4, 7:13 sum. Sivan, FRI 10h 21m 0p, Fr/JUN 2, 11:00 sum., Fr/JUN 2, 15:15 sum. Tammuz, SHA 23h 5m 1p, SH/JUL 1, 23:44 sum., SH/JUL 1, 22:21 sum. Menachem Av, MON 11h 49m 2p, Mo/JUL 31, 12:28 sum., Mo/JUL 31, 05:25 sum. Elul, WED 0h 33m 3p, We/AUG 30, 01:12 sum., Tu/AUG 29, 13:19 sum.
Dates for Rosh Chodesh Benching in 5760 are: OCT 9, NOV 6, DEC 4, JAN 1, FEB 5, MAR 4, APR 1, APR 29, JUN 3, JUL 1, JUL 29, AUG 26
Generally, AV HARACHAMIM is not said when we bench Rosh Chodesh, so continue with ASHREI. On the two SHABBATOT MEVORCHIM during the OMER (for IYAR and SIVAN) we DO say AV HARACHAMIM (even if there is a person present who would usually "knock out" AV HARACHAMIM - or TACHANUN during the week. And even if there is a BRIT MILA in the shul on that day.) When we bench Rosh Chodesh Menachem Av, some say AV HARACHAMIM, some don't say it. (The prevalent custom is to argue about it - just kidding.) The GR"A says not to say AV HARACHAMIM when we bench Rosh Chodesh, except for pre-AV.
The Molad of Tishrei is left out of the Rosh Chodesh Benching scene, because we do not announce the coming of that month. Ironically, in our fixed calendar, the most important Molad (so to speak) is that of Tishrei, which determines what day Rosh HaShana begins. The Molad of Tishrei 5760 was on Friday, September 10th, ErevRH, at about 3:45pm. By the rules of "fixing Rosh HaShana", RH was Shabbat (and Sunday). The Molad of next Tishrei, 5761, is calculated to fall on Thursday afternoon, September 28th. By the "rules", a MOLAD ZAKEIN (one that is after noon) pushes RH to the following day. By the other "major rule of postponement of RH",known as LO AD"U ROSH (there are two major and two minor D'CHIYOT, rules for when RH is not fixed on the day of the Molad of Tishrei, but is "pushed" to the following day), RH cannot be fixed on a Sunday, Wednesday, or Friday. RH 5761 therefore will be "double pushed" to Shabbat (and Sunday). Torah Tidbits This 'n That Corrections, follow-up comments, readers' reactions, old business, and other such things... Holiday Pull-Outs Lot of time, effort, and expense went into the Pull-Out sections of the past three issues of Torah Tidbits. Many people went out of their way to tell us how this page or that proved useful. Most popular among the pages were Tashlich, Vidui, and Hoshanot. Tashlich was a popular alternative to "shlepping" a machzor or siddurhere and there. Hopefully, the introductory notes were enlightening. Vidui seems to have really helped many people with the mitzva by the same name. We are glad to have helped. Hoshanot was not only convenient, allowing better handling of the Four Minim during Hakafot (here referring to the ones with Lulav & Etrog aroundthe Sefer-Torah-adorned Bima), but they also helped identify the day's choice of Hoshanot. For those who noticed the inconsistancy in the order of the USHPIZIN, our apologies. Chronologically, of course, Yosef goes before Moshe and Aharon (all seem to agree that Moshe is before his older brother). But there are Kabbalistic reasons to move Yosef to day 6 and bring Moshe and Aharon back a day. Our version of theUshpizin couldn't make up its mind. We hope that all the other pages, even the ones for which we had little or no feedback, enhanced in some way your celebrations of the Yomim Tovim. And... there are two more Pull-Outs to come - this week and next IY"H. Back to Square One (a.k.a. RH) Shortly after Rosh HaShana, a woman called to "complain" that we wrote that Tashlich was to be said on the second day of Rosh HaShana, because the first day was Shabbat, without mentioning other practices. While it is correct for Ashkenazim, it is not necessarily so for S'faradim. We checked, and sure enough, M'KOR CHAYIM(by R. Chaim David HaLevi z"l, S'faradi Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv until his passing, a year and a half ago) says that if a community and its Tashlich place are enclosed in an Eruv, then they say Tashlich on the first day (Shabbat). If not, then they say it on the second. It seems that this practical factor is responsiblefor the Ashkenazi postponement of Tashlich, without an "on the one hand... on the other hand" distinction. One who did not manage to say Tashlich on Rosh HaShana, had until Hoshana Rabba to say it. And let's not forget those authorities who didn't say Tashlich or write about it at all. Although the overwhelming majority (an that's putting it mildly) of TT readers are Ashkenazim, we try to mention other customs - when we know of them - because they are very often interesting, educational, and inspiring. The main reason for not mentioning the S'faradi practice was ignorance. I simply was unaware that some say Tashlich on Shabbat. Readers are invited to point out variant practices to those mentioned in TT, so that our readship can be further exposed to the richness of Jewish Life.
Here's a thought that occurred to MG a few days ago, and he was kind enough to share it via email. CHAG SAMEI'ACH is written CHET, GIMMEL, S(H)IN, MEM, CHET. If you get rid of the first 'chet' and get rid of the last 'chet', you are left with: GIMMEL, S(H)IN, MEM, which spells... GESHEM! Perhaps there is a lesson here,that if, after 40 days of introspection, we firmly resolve to get rid of our "chet" (sins) HaShem will grant us the blessing of rain! This is a beautiful REMEZ (hint, clue) to the concept expressed many times in the Torah - none more clearly presented as our second passage of the Sh'ma. And if you will listen (obey) my mitzvot... then I will send benificial rain and the ground will yield a full bounty. But be very careful not to turn away from G-d...And He will be "angry" with you, and He will prevent the heavens from giving rain... [The B'reishit Homepage]
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