From the Virtual Desk of the OU VEBBE REBBE Question: If extracting juice from fruit is considered threshing, does this mean that squeezing a lemon for its juice in tea or on fish is prohibited? Regarding lemons, the Shulchan Aruch rules (ibid.: 6) that they may be squeezed. The Mishna Berurah (ibid.:22), however, writes that since today it is very common to make lemon juice, it is prohibited to squeeze lemons for drinking. Indeed, the Shut HaRrosh, who is the Shulchan Aruch’s source, explains the leniency of lemons by noting that they are used for squeezing on food. There is a well-established leniency which allows squeezing fruit (even grapes and olives) onto a solid food (Shulchan Aruch, ibid.:4). This is based on the understanding that when juice is squeezed from a fruit directly onto a solid food, the juice is categorized as a food, not a liquid, and that squeezing is considered extraction only when a liquid is being removed from the fruit. Removing food from food is more similar to cutting the fruit into pieces than to extracting. Most of the juice must be absorbed into the food for this leniency to apply (Shmirat Shabbat K’hilchata 5:3). To apply the rules we have learned, most poskim prohibit squeezing lemon into tea (apparently, even when the lemon is submerged, and the juice is never a separate entity- ibid. 5:(9)), but it is permitted to squeeze it onto fish. Most authorities permit to squeeze the lemon onto sugar (so that it ts absorbed), and then add the sugar to the water or tea (Mishna Berurah ibid.:22; Ben Ish Chai, Year II, Yitro, 5). One may also put a lemon slice into a drink or into tea which is not too hot (less than 113° F or in a kli shlishi) and allow some flavor to ooze out without squeezing (Shmirat Shabbat K’hilchata 5:2, in a note). If the peel appears infested, it should be removed before putting the slice in the drink. (The Mishna Berurah (ibid. 22) reports a minhag to squeeze lemons, which are drunk only with other things, directly into a drink. While not agreeing with the practice, he does not dismiss it entirely). Ask the Rabbi Q&A is part of Hemdat Yamim, the weekly parsha sheet published by Eretz Hemdah. You can read this section or the entire Hemdat Yamim at
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lists@eretzhemdah.org with the message: JoinHemdatya - Please leave the subject blank. Love may not be bread to eat, but it is the wine of life. There is a thin line between sadness and bitterness. REASON On Chanuka, HaShem worked miraculous victories despite Am Yisrael's not having been stirred to repentance. The dreidel signifies that the events of Chanuka were manipulated from Heaven. This is similar to the manner in which we spin the dreidel by twisting the handle on top. On Purim, once Haman's edict became known, it was "a great mourning for the Jews, fasting and weeping and lamenting" (Esther 4:3). And Esther said to Mordechai, "Go and gather all the Jews in Shushan, fast for me, do not eat of drink for three days" (4:16). That spiritual awakening is symbolized by the gragger which produces noise when someone turns the handle from below. Among Tunisian Jews, Rosh Chodesh Tevet is called Rosh Chodesh for the daughters... REASON This is to commemorate the salvation of the Jewish People wrought by Yehudit when she slew the enemy Haliphernes... The Gaon replied, “On the contrary, that Gemara shows the exact opposite. It states that one should have one of SH'MONEH (masculine form of the Hebrew word for EIGHT) of a SH'MINIS (feminine form of the word) of conceit. This is an allusion to something entirely different. It refers to SH'MONEH - the eighth pasuk - in the SH'MINIS - the eighth sedra of the Torah, which is Vayishlach. [Pasuk is masculine and sedra is feminine.] That verse records Yaakov's statement, ‘I am not worthy of all the mercy You have shown Your servant.’ A Talmid Chacham must always remember this verse and not allow himself to become conceited.” Excerpted with the permission of the copyright holder R. Naftali Levi of Ropschitz noted that a matching expression “biy’dai” (‘into the hands of’) also occurs five times in the Chanukah prayer Al Hanissim. Moreover, he adds, each of these five instances can be associated, davke, with heroic personalities from the tribe of Binyamin. “You delivered the strong into the hands of the weak” thus alludes to King Sha’ul whose miniscule army routed 30,000 Philistine chariots and 6000 armed horsemen (I Sam. 14:23). “Many into the hands of the few” recalls Jonathan’s unexpected attack that panicked the Philistines (I Sam. 14:7). “The impure into the hands of the pure” refers to Achashverus’ accession to Esther’s plea for mercy on behalf of her people. Concerning the phrase “the wicked into the hands of the righteous,” the Talmud (Sota 37a) notes that Binyamin was the first tribe to jump into the Red Sea, causing the Egyptians’ downfall. Lastly, “the arrogant into the hands of those occupied in your Torah” hints at Haman’s demise at the hands of Mordechai. Like the Maccabim, all these righteous people took personal risks, demonstrating both faith and initiative when all seemed lost. Clearly, in the eternal battle of Bin-Yamin versus Bin-Laden, they showed us the way. [2] Israel was legally entitled to this vital security information according to a 1983 Memorandum of Understanding between the two countries. [3] The information being withheld from Israel included Syrian, Iraqi, Libyan and Iranian nuclear, chemical, and biological warfare capabilities — being developed for use against Israel. It also included information on ballistic missile development by these countries and information on planned terrorist attacks against Israeli civilian targets. [4] Pollard was painfully aware that Israeli lives were being jeopardized by this undeclared intelligence embargo. He did everything possible to stop this covert policy and restore the legal flow of information to Israel. When his efforts failed, he began supplying the information to Israel directly. [6] Jonathan Pollard fulfilled his end of the plea agreement, cooperating fully with the prosecution. [7] Nevertheless, Pollard received a life sentence and a recommendation that he never be paroled — in complete violation of the plea agreement he had reached with the government. [8] Jonathan Pollard was never indicted for harming the United States: compromising codes, agents, or war plans and was never charged with treason. [9] Jonathan Pollard was indicted on only one charge: one count of passing classified information to an ally, without intent to harm the United States. [10] No one in the history of the United States has ever received a life sentence for passing classified information to an ally — except Jonathan Pollard. The median sentence for this offense is 2-4 years. Even agents who have committed far more serious offenses on behalf of hostile nations have not received such a harsh sentence. [11] In November '95, Israel granted Jonathan Pollard Israeli citizenship. The official presentation took place in January '96. This publicly signaled to the U.S. Israel’s willingness to accept full responsibility for Pollard. [12] On May 12, 1998, in the same statement in which the Israeli government publicly acknowledged Jonathan Pollard as an Israeli agent, it accepted full responsibility for him, and indicated its commitment to securing his release and repatriation to Israel. [13] In '91, Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu, former Chief Rabbi of Israel and Jonathan’s rabbi, offered himself to the U.S. Justice Department as Jonathan’s guarantor. The offer was ignored. Rabbi Eliyahu repeated the same offer every year after that in personal letters to President Clinton. [14] The Wye Plantation summit is a prime example of U.S. exploitation of Jonathan Pollard. Both before and during the summit negotiations in the fall of '98, President Clinton promised to release Pollard. This promise enabled the accords to be completed. To justify the president’s reneging at Wye, a story was leaked to the press that Clinton appointee George Tenet had threatened to resign as head of the CIA if Pollard were released. In September '99, despite strenuous opposition from all his government advisors and agencies, President Clinton granted clemency to 14 unrepentant Puerto Rican terrorists, members of the FALN, a militant group responsible for over 100 bombings that killed six people and maimed dozens, including several New York City police officers. In doing so, he unequivocally proved that no government agency tied his hands or influenced his decision in matters of clemency. [15] On November 21, '01, Jonathan Pollard entered the 17th year of his life sentence, with no end in sight. To learn more about Jonathan Pollard, refer to www.jonathanpollard.org [The Miketz Homepage]
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