MISC section - contents:
1. Vebbe Rebbe
2. Specials
3. Words of Wisdom; Words of Wit
4. Rite and Reason
5. Candle by Day
6. Just to Let You Know
7. From Aloh Naaleh
8. From the desk of the director

[1] From the virtual desk of the OU VEBBE REBBE
The Orthodox Union – via its website – fields questions of all types in areas of kashrut, Jewish law and values. Some of them are answered by Eretz Hemdah, the Institute for Advanced Jewish Studies, Jerusalem, founded by HaRav Shaul Yisraeli, zt"l to prepare rabbanim and dayanim to serve the National Religious community in Israel and abroad. Ask the Rabbi is a joint venture of the OU, Yerushalayim Network, Eretz Hemdah... and the Israel Center. The following is a Q&A from Eretz Hemdah...

Q Does a place of business require a mezuza, and, if so, does one make a beracha when affixing it?

A This answer refers to the situation where the owner of the business is Jewish. Several other permutations exist, which are beyond our present scope (see Minchat Yitchak II, 83).

The Gemara (Yoma 11b) says that in order for a structure to be obligated in mezuza, it must be connected with a use of DIRA (dwelling). The problem is that it is not always so simple to determine what uses are considered of that type.

The Rambam (Mezuza 6:9) says that a store in the market is not obligated in mezuza, and the Shulchan Aruch (Yoreh Deah 286:11) brings his opinion as halacha. This is despite the fact that both of them rule that storage areas for straw or lumber are required to have a mezuza. The Taz (ad loc.:10) explains that the type of use that one makes of the storage rooms is appropriate for both day and night, as opposed to the commercial activities of the store, which are limited to the daytime. Other distinctions can be made, including that the storage rooms are in the proximity of and an extension of the use of one's home (see B'er Moshe II, 85).

Along the lines of the Taz's distinction, the Pitchei Teshuva (ad loc.:9) cites the opinion of the Yad HaKetana that if the store houses the owner's merchandise during the night as well, then it would certainly require a mezuza. Even if one does not feel that storage of merchandise or equipment during off-hours is sufficient to turn a place of business into a DIRA, if the business or factory operates well into the night, it is more certain that one would need to put a mezuza (B'er Moshe, ibid.).
A further reason to obligate a mezuza is the approach of the Bach, Perisha (Yoreh Deah 286:22), and Yad Haketana (ibid.), according to whom, the Rambam (and likely, the Shulchan Aruch) were misunderstood. The Rambam (ibid.) rules that a Sukka and living quarters on a ship are not obligated in mezuza because they are not for permanent dwelling. The Rambam can be understood, in the same context, to be referring specifically to a store in a market, which was open only on special market days. (This was a common arrangement in the gemara's time- see Bava Batra 22a). According to this approach, regular, full-time places of work would be obligated in mezuza.

In summary, there is ample justification for Jewish owned places of work to affix a mezuza. Regarding a beracha, the approach of several recent poskim is the safe approach, that it is better not to make a beracha because of the doubt in the matter (see Minchat Yitzchak, ibid.; Chovat Hadar 3:8; Pitchei Shearim 286:(132,133,138)). We recall that our mentor, Harav Yisraeli z.t.l. instructed us to make a beracha when affixing the mezuza by our office. However, we cannot say with certainty if that was an across-the-board ruling or if it depended on the type of activity and conditions in the specific place of work.

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 www.ou.org or www.eretzhemdah.org. And/or you can receive Hemdat Yamim by email weekly, by sending an email to eretzhem@netvision.net.il with the message: Join Hemdatya –Please leave the subject blank. Ask the Vebbe Rebbe is partially funded by the Jewish Agency for Israel

[2]Sundry
Your tax-deductible support for the Malki Foundation / Keren Malki helps us enable quality home-care for seriously disabled children in Israel. Ph. 058 853317 • www.kerenmalki.org • In loving memory of Malka Chana Roth HY"D murdered in the Sbarro bombing, 9 Aug. ‘01

Joshua where are you now
When we are outside Jericho?
Bring your thunder
Bring your blast
Make our country
OURS at last
With His help, we won’t need elves
Let us build it by ourselves
With Him at our helm, the world will know
Their road map’s not the way to go
Help us build a nation great
So Moshiach can come, before it gets late
Renni Levine, June 23, ‘03

From Hava'ad Lema'an Rachel Imeinu
B”H ...Egged has agreed to put more buses on the line to Kever Rachel. The timing could not be more crucial, as the PM is already speaking of giving up Beit Lechem, G-d forbid. Although Kever Rachel is not included in the "planned" retreat ...the Palestinians are pushing for Kever Rachel to be included in the Beit Lechem turn over.
Extra buses to Kever Rachel will only be run if there are passengers. So do a mitzva for your mom (Rachel Imeinu) and your country and visit Kever Rachel ASAP, and as often as possible.
New EGGED schedule to/from Kever Rachel
Jerusalem to Kever Rachel:
SUN-THU: 05:10 (from R’ Malchei Yisrael), 09:10, 11:10, 13:10, 15:10, 17:10, 19:10,(22:10 on THU only); FRI 9:10, 12:10, 14:10; Motza”Sh 21:10
Kever Rachel to Jerusalem
SUN-THU 06:30, 10:30, 12:30, 14:30, 16:30, 18:30, 20:30, (23:30 on THU only); FRI 10:30, 13:30, 15:30; Motza”Sh 22:30
Egged 163 bus to Kever Rachel leaves from the Central Bus Station in Jerusalem, platform 5,inside the building. The Route is as follows:
Central Bus Station, Yirmiyahu, Sarei Yisrael, Malchei Yisrael, Meah She'arim,Hanevi'im, Kvish #1,Hatzanchanim, Derech Hevron,Kever Rachel.
Questions? Call 056-530-537

[3] ArtScroll Series • Mesorah Publications Ltd.
WORDS OF WISDOM WORDS OF WIT by Shmuel Himelstein
A man came to the Belzer Rebbe, R’ Yis- sachar Dov, and told him, “Rebbe, I’m getting on in years, and I want to make sure that all my youthful sins have been forgiven. I have no idea what is con- sidered repentance.”
“Let me tell you a story,” said R’ Yissachar Dov. “A merchant brought some fabric which was in great demand to the fair. As soon as he arrived, it began raining without cessation. No other merchant was able to reach the fair at all. All the customers rushed to him to buy his wares, but he held off selling. By the next day, the amount offered for his fabric had risen dramatically, and the following day, it went up again. But still the merchant refused to sell, hoping that the longer he waited the higher the price would rise.
“Finally, the merchant decided to sell his fabric the next day. That night, however, the rain stopped, and by the next morning other merchants with the same fabric had arrived at the fair. The price of the fabric plummeted.
“If your regret over the sins in your youth is as great as that merchant;s, you have repented sufficiently,” said theBelzer.

[4] Rite and Reason by Shmuel Pinchas Gelbard
Why is the Haftara called Haftara?
Reason: The root of the word Haftara connotes conclusion, as in “Ein maftirin achar ha-Pesach afikoman” - The Pesach offering concludes the meal. Thus the reading of the Haftara concludes the Torah reading and the Shacharit service (Abudraham).
Reason: The principle of reading the Haftara was instituted at a time of evil decrees when our enemies forbade reading the Torah. They did however permit reading the Prophets. By reading a passage from the Prophets, we discharged our obligation [albeit in a diminished and inexact manner] to read from the Torah. Accordingly they called it Haftara, here implying “fulfilled”.
Reason: The Gemara (Sotah 39a) rules: Once the Torah is opened [for reading] it is forbidden to speak at all, even of Halachic matters. Upon beginning to read in the Navi, it became permissible again to speak. This is why the prophetic reading is called haftara, which can also mean “opening up,” as in (Tehilim 22:8): “Yaftiru v’safeh [they opened their lips in conversation]” or (Shemos 13:12): “Peter rechem” [the opening of the womb, the firstborn which opens the womb of the mother] (Abudraham).

[5] Candle by Day
What a fox would give to be as sly as a man! - From A Candle by Day by Rabbi Shraga Silverstein

[6] Just to Let you Know...
Yosef HaTzadik, son of Yaakov Avinu and Rachel Imeinu, was born in Tammuz of 2199 or 2200 (disputed; either on the 1st, 2nd, or 27th) and died 110 years later on the same date.

[7] CHIZUK and IDUD (for Olim & not-yet-Olim respectively)
Although the Torah does not call attention to it, Parashat Hukat marks a great transition in the Exodus story. According to most commentators (and the simple reading of the text), Parashat Korah describes an incident that took place in the wake of the nation's disap- pointment following the unsuccessful spy caper - during the early years of Israel's travails in Midbar Sinai. By the end of our parasha, on the other hand, we hear about the negotiations between Moshe and the kings of the nations bordering the Land of Israel in the final year of the 40-year trek through the desert. The wars that follow on the Jordan River's "east bank" constitute the first stage in the actual conquest and settlement of Eretz Yisrael as promised to the Patriarchs.
The Torah's description of the failed negotiations with the neighboring kings (Sihon, Og, etc.), as well as the wars that followed, appears to have been part of the basic curriculum taught to Jewish children in the following generations. When Yiftah HaGiladi (Shoftim 11-12, a section of which is this week's haftara) needs to defend Am Yisrael from the attacks of the Amonites, he responds not only with a successful military defense, but first and foremost with a historical refutation of the Amonites' claim to the Land. Knowing that our claim to the Land is true and that the enemy's claim is spurious is a precondition for rallying the support that is necessary for a successful engagement with the enemy.
In our own day it is essential that we be knowledgeable about the history of Eretz Yisrael - both ancient and modern - so that we will be able to refute the false claims of others, and even more so, that we will understand that it is our right and destiny to live there.
Rabbi Shalom Z. Berger, Alon Shvut
TORAH THOUGHTS as contributed by Aloh Naaleh members for publication in the Orthodox Union's 'Torah Insights', a weekly Torah publication on Parshat Ha'Shavuah

[8] Divrei Menachem
In Parshat Chukat we read of the last moments in the life of Aharon HaKohen. At that time, HaShem commanded Moshe to divest Aharon of his priestly garments and to put them on Elazar his son.
Yalkut Shimoni comments that Elazar donned each garment in exactly the same order in which Aharon took them off. This, of course, is an anomaly since one would normally dress with the "underclothes" first and then work outwards. Moreover, this order of things specifically defies the sequence in which the priestly garments were normally supposed to be put on.
Ramban explains that a miracle happened here, the point of which was to preserve a fundamental concept in Jewish life. Through this miracle, Elazar was able to follow the same order as Aharon's dressing and thus capture the fundamental quality of Aharon's essence. If the order had been reversed, then the "P'nimi" or inner dimension of Aharon would have become the "Chitzoni" or outward aspect of Elazar.
Rabbi Benzion Kaganoff suggests that the lesson to be learned is that throughout the generations, Jewish identity has been preserved precisely because father and son have worn the same spiritual garments. The fact that we have survived throughout years of eternal pressures is in itself a miracle - but no less because we knew how to preserve our "Bigdei Kodesh."
Shabbat Shalom,
Menachem Persoff