Q Is it permitted to use a hearing aid on Shabbat or do the electrical workings make it forbidden or problematic? A While there is what to discuss from a halachic perspective, all of the major poskim who discuss it, permit it. They were well aware that a hearing aid is used in case of significant need and that people see it as an exceptional situation. This helps explain why it wasn't forbidden or frowned upon despite the fact that it is a very similar mechanism to that of a microphone, which most poskim forbade. There are some poskim who included the need as an integral part of the lenient ruling (see Tzitz Eliezer VI,6) and others who made the absolute need a condition of the ruling (Minchat Yitzchak quotes Rav Henkin z.t.l., who suggests that only those who cannot hear at all without the hearing aid should use it). However, as we know, people who wear hearing aids do so only when the need is substantial, and the minhag has developed to allow them free use on Shabbat. We do not feel that this practice should be changed or discouraged, certainly not at the expense of their quality of life and enjoyment of Shabbat. We will deal now with some of the issues that arise. [We only have the liberty, in this context, to deal with these issues in a superficial manner, and request from our readers not to extrapolate from our discussion to other applications]. The first issue that is dealt with is of creating circuits, which could be a problem of boneh (building) or metaken manne (fixing a utensil). Indeed this is a problem (in one form and reason or another) when one turns on a battery operated device or shuts it off. Therefore, one should leave it on all of Shabbat. Another issue, is the fact that speaking causes there to be an increase in the current. It is far from clear that an increase in an existing current is considered creating something new. Even if it were, there is room for leniency because the change is on the level of something, which has no real substance and is fleeting in duration (Tzitz Eliezer, ibid.). There is a general problem with devices that produce sounds, whether they are included in the prohibition of using musical instruments (see Rama, Orach Chayim 338:1). There are several ways to deal with that question in our context. One is that the sound that is created is not heard by those standing around, but only by the person who wears it in his ear. Also, he who speaks does not come in direct contact with the instrument (see Chelkat Ya'akov OC 120). The fact that it is not generally audible has other advantages (see Shulchan Aruch, OC 252:5). A further question is whether, as a battery-operated device, which is usually used by turning on and off, it shouldn't be muktzeh. Tzitz Eliezer has a variety of ways to deal with the issue. In summary, he feels that it is, at worst, a kli shemelachto l'issur (a utensil which is generally used by doing an action which is forbidden on Shabbat). Even such an item may be moved in order to use for a permitted purpose or because its place is needed (Shulchan Aruch, OC 308:3). In summary, while this response is not a exhaustive one which deals with the subject in depth or deals with every pertinent question that relates to the use of a hearing aid, we hope to have explained the basis for its use on Shabbat, in general. We think it also displays the interest of the poskim to find room for leniency in a case like this where the need is great, and despite the fact that one could have raised objections on several fronts. Ask the Rabbi Q&A is part of Hemdat
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Jewish Agency for Israel Once, R' Amram came to the community heads and requested a raise in his salary. They turned him down summarily. When informed of this, R' Amram told the community heads: "You have no idea how happy you have
made me by turning down my request for a raise. You see, Chazal tell us
that sincere words - words that come from the heart - influence the heart
of the listener. Now, all this time, I was afraid that the reason you
weren't listening to me was because my plea for you to keep the mitzvos
was not made with enough sincerity. Now, however, when I asked you for a
raise - and this request of mine was made from the depths of my heart -
and you nevertheless didn't listen to me, I can see that the problem when
I preach is not my lack of sincerity, but that you are simply
hard-hearted." Reason: In accord with what our Sages (Sotah 12a) noted: “And she saw him that he was good [Yocheved concerning Moshe]” (Sh’mot 2:2), that he was born circumcised. We see from this that MILA is called tov [good]. And this is what we are giving thanks to Hashem for... Reason: The newborn is like a person
who has emerged from imprisonment and is therefore obliged to offer
special thanks to the Almighty. So the assembled men, in place of the
baby, recite “Hodu...” The yak is in the familyBovidae... Bos grunniens(grunting ox); yaks are incapable of mooing... make a low grunting sound. A female yak is called a dri... A dri who has not given birth in a particular year is called a yarma. A yarma can produce about half the amount of milk as a dri who has given birth that year. The butter made from yarma’s milk is called kyadzi, and is very white, as opposed to butter made from the more yellow dri’s milk. Yaks can reach nearly 11 feet in length
and nearly 7 in height... can weigh roughly 700-1800 lbs... Yak can be
cross-bread with cattle. The female offspring, dzomo, are fertile, but the
males, dzo, are sterile. The offspring of a dzomo, called a tolwo, require
lots of milk, and have a low chance of living beyond birth... two kinds of
wool: khulu and tsidpa. Khulu is soft and downy and used to make fine
products like carpets. Tsidpa is longer and coarser and used to make
tents, sacks, and rope...85% of the world’s yak population is in
Tibet/China. The famous Tibetan tea "So Cha" is made from yak butter,
black tea and salt. Yak meat (kosher) is much leaner and more tender than
cow... When the TTTT feature was written earlier this week, I thought that would be it for CCR (chocolate covered raisins) for the time being. But several more comments came in during the last couple of days, and some conversation and brainstorming has taken place. So here’s a little more snack for thought. One of the major tasks of the next Sanhedrin, may it be restored to Lishkat HaGazit speedily in our time, will be to decide matters of halacha and Jewish practice, especially concerning those matters which are disputed and/or in doubt in our imperfect, we-don’t-have-a-Sanhedrin world of p’sak din. On their agenda - I doubt if it will be brought up for the first few months - will be the issue of the bracha rishona for CCR and a ruling on the issue of bracha acharona for a whole fruit that is smaller than a KAZAYIT (these being two of the issues regarding CCR). Until then, there are certain disputes
that have been settled by p’sak halacha, others that have been declared
SAFEK, and others that some people do it this way and other people do it
that way. We do not have an ideal situation, but we do the best we can in
the meantime. Sometimes, a p’sak will recognize the merit of two sides of
a dispute and recommend a “preferred” procedure, in addition to rulings
for situations of “after the fact”. So, when we write in TT that Shabbat Matot-Mas’ei was M’vorchim, we are pronouncing the word as if it were an English word, rather than its correct way, which is m’va-R’CHIM. It is true that TT is not consistent between correct Hebrew pronunciation (in transliteration) and Yeshivish. And we appreciate YL’s continual reminder that M’vorchim is not accurate Hebrew- wise, but Shabbos M’vorchim is still Shabbos M’vorchim. HaRav Avigdor Cyperstein zt”l gave his shiur in flawless “modern” Hebrew. One day he referred to the cha-Tam so-FER. Several sentences later, he stopped and said CH’sam SOI-fer. “Ah, that feels better”, he added, and continued the shiur in correct, Israeli Hebrew. Similarly, KIRUV might not be the accurate Hebrew word, but it is a Yeshivish word that English speakers understand. B’di-eved is Yeshivish for b’di-a-VAD. Obviously, when we are talking about correct pronunciation in davening and Torah reading, we try to be as correct as possible. And sometimes a mistake is a mistake. Moshe knows that the people he has led for the last forty years are "stiff- necked" and that he will no longer be there to lead them. Thus, his final speech, must be a message so strong and inspiring that it will continue to echo thousands of years later. He is so successful in this mission that Hashem incorporates his address into His own words and eternalizes it as Sefer Devarim. I suggest that you take the time to read the Sefer as a whole unit and realize that this really was Moshe's last speech. Only then will you feel that it is the history of a real people, your people. You will then feel what our ancestors felt in the hot desert after forty years of wandering. You will be terrified by the voice of God when you stand before Sinai to receive the Ten Command- ments, and you will worry in anticipa- tion of the enemy you will have to fight when you arrive in the Promised Land. There you will bring your first fruits to Jerusalem, and with the basket on your shoulder you will tell the Kohen how your father was an Aramean refugee who went down to Egypt in small numbers. You will remind the Kohen how the Egyptians dealt harshly with you, oppressed you and enslaved you. You will then proceed to tell the Kohen how you cried out to Hashem your God and how He heard you and brought you to this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. Sefer Devarim is our connection to Eretz Yisrael standing on one foot. Go Learn It!!! Rabbi Aharon E. Wexler, Jerusalem Notwithstanding the many new laws that appear in the Book of Devarim, the Sefer is aptly called "Mishna Torah" to indicate that Moshe essentially reviewed most of the mitzvot already given at Sinai or in the Ohel Mo'ed (Ramban). The term "Mishna" not only conjures up notions of repetition, it all also implies that the laws repeated were embellished orally. Whereas in the previous books we were accustomed to seeing the phrase, "And Hashem spoke to Moshe," this Sefer is replete with the subjective statement that, "Hashem spoke to me." The Vilna Gaon suggests that the first expression describes the imminent nature of G-d's communication to the people while the latter depicts Moshe as the prophet who reveals the earlier vision. Here Moshe chooses the words; he is now the exalted teacher, "Moshe Rabbeinu." However, as the ever-faithful servant of Hashem, Moshe never fails to teach us that it is the immortal message that is the medium. Shabbat Shalom, [The Parshat D'varim Homepage]
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