MISC section - contents:
[1] Vebbe Rebbe
[2] Touch of Wisdom; Touch of Wit
[3] Candle by Day
[4] MicroUlpan
[5] From Aloh Naaleh
[6] Torah from Nature
[7] Letters to Torah Tidbits
[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, headed by Rav Yosef Carmel and Rav Moshe Ehrenreich, 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 one who wants to adopt a child have to do so from the closest orphanage or from a Jewish orphanage before a non-Jewish one, as these preferences exist in regard to tzedaka? It seems to depend if adoption is a mitzva to help the child and, therefore, is governed by the laws of tzedaka or is something the adopting family does for its benefit. Which is it?
A Adopting a child is a great mitzva of chesed toward the adopted child, whether or not it also benefits the adopting family. There is no contradiction between the two. Let us note the Talmudic source that lauds adoption. The gemara (Ketubot 50a) tries to identify the subject of the following pasuk in Tehillim (106:3):"Praiseworthy are those who... do acts of charity at all times." Who is capable of doing charity at all times? The first opinion is that it is one who brings up and sustains his own children. The second opinion is that it is one who raises an orphan in his home and marries him or her off. One can logically connect between the possibilities. Supporting one's own children is certainly a natural thing, which usually includes a significant degree of self- fulfillment, and is not the type of charity for only the very pious. Yet, it is considered a great act of charity anyway. So too, the praise for a family that adopts applies even to those who feel an absence of children in their house. On the contrary, if a family prefers not having more children and considers adoption out of pity, they should consider whether they will be capable of seeing the responsibility through to the end with the necessary self-sacrifice, love, and patience.

All indications are that the laws of kedimut (giving precedence to one recipient before others) apply throughout the laws of chesed. The idea that one gives precedence to those closest to him is hinted in the Torah in the laws of lending (Shemot 22:24 and Devarim 15:11). Yet, Rambam brings the details specifically by the laws of tzedaka and leaves them out in the laws of lending. Commentaries explain that once it is found by one, it is assumed by the other (see Lechem Mishne, ad loc.; Minchat Chinuch #66). The Chofetz Chayim, in the introduction to his classic work on the laws of chesed, "Ahavat Chesed," stresses that all of the different forms of chesed share the same underpinnings. There- fore, it appears that there is reason to give precedence to those closest to the adopting family. That includes Jews before non-Jews, relatives before non-relatives, and neighbors and people from the same city before others (Bava Metzia 71a). (There are practical considerations regarding the preference of adopting a Jewish child or converting a non-Jewish child that are not appropriate to discuss in this forum and should be discussed with one's personal rabbi if the question arises.)

As far as who is considered a member of the same city, there is an important machloket among the Rishonim. R. Yitzchak b. R. Baruch rules that whoever came to the city is considered within the realm of a preferred recipient, whereas the Tur (Yoreh Deah 251) says that only those who are permanent residents of the city areincluded. The Rama (YD 251:3) rules like the Tur. However, if a child has moved into a local orphanage on an ongoing basis, he should be considered as a local, irrespective of his place of origin (see Biur Hagra, ad loc.).

The question, though, is to what extent the laws of precedence are binding. Firstly, even in regard to relatives vs. non-relatives, which is the most serious, kedimut does not contain the elements of severity that the mitzva of tzedaka has (Ma'aser Kesafim 10:(299), citing the Chatam Sofer). But beyond that, since it is rare for a specific person to have a personal obligation to adopt a child, if he volunteers, he can do so according to the factors that are important to him (based on a parallel case in Ahavat Chesed 6:9). These factors may include cost, reliability of an agency, etc. If one can incorporate the rules of precedence, that is nice, but the important thing is to succeed in carrying out the tremendous chesed to the benefit of all involved.

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 info@eretzhemdah.org with the message: Subscribe/English (for the English version) or Subscribe/Hebrew (for the hebrew version). Please leave the subject blank. Ask the Vebbe Rebbe is partially funded by the Jewish Agency for Israel

[2] ArtScroll Series • Mesorah Publications Ltd.
A TOUCH OF WISDOM A TOUCH OF WIT by Shmuel Himelstein
R' Yonasan of Prague was a good friend of the king, who loved to talk to him and hear his wisdom.

Once the king set out for war, but before doing so, he said to R' Yonasan: "I know that you are very wise. Could you tell me through which of the two gates to the city I will return?"

"Your majesty", said R' Yonasan "I can't tell you now, because whatever I tell you, you will do the opposite, and that way it will work out that i lied. Let me give you a counter-proposal. I will write my answer on a piece of paper and fold it up, and both you and I will put our seals on the folded paper. When you return, you will then order the seal to be broken and the paper to be read".

"Granted", said the king.

When the king returned from the war and came to the city's gates, he thought to himself: "I will trick the rabbi, and will not enter through either gate". Instead, he ordered that the wall be breached and a new gate constructed, and it was through this new gate that he entered the city.
The king came to his palace, and summoned R' Yonasan, and in front of all the court nobles he ordered the seal to be broken and the contents of the paper to be read aloud. On the paper was written a quote from the gemara (Bava Batra 100b): "A king may breach a wall to make a path for himself".

Shmuel Himelstein has written a wonderful series for ArtScroll: Words of Wisdom, Words of Wit; A Touch of Wisdom, A Touch of Wit;, and"Wisdom and Wit" — available at your local Jewish bookstore (or should be).

[3] Candle by Day
Before you start playing things by ear, make sure you are not tone-deaf - From A Candle by Day by Rabbi Shraga Silverstein

[4] Micro Ulpan - a word (or two) from HaAcademiya LaLashon Ha-Ivrit
PARVE or PAREVE are both words in English, and they mean exactly what we think they mean. The word comes from Yiddish. But what is the Hebrew word for a food that is neither B’SARI nor CHALAVI? The answer is S’TAMI. And, by a tenuous train of thought,
How do you say, separated the whites from the yolks (of eggs)? CHILMEIN

[5] CHIZUK and IDUD (for Olim & not-yet-Olim respectively)
KI TIKNEH EVED IVRI…, "If you buy a Hebrew slave…" (Shemot 21:2). Parashat Mishpatim begins with the laws of a Hebrew slave and how he acquires his freedom. The Kli Yakar explains that the parsha opens with these laws in order to teach us that just as the birth and formation of the Jewish people began with, "I am the Lord your God who took you out of Egypt", Hashem taking us out of a slavery and granting us freedom, so too the Jewish people must recognize the value of individual freedom and allow every person to reach this state.

"The difference between a slave and a free man is not only a question of whether or not he is enslaved to another human being" (Olat Ra'aya, p. 245). True freedom, explains Rav Kook, is that uplifted spirit which results when an individual or a nation reaches and gives expression to their true inner selves in every walk of life.

Here lies the Ge'ulah and the freedom of our return to Eretz Yisrael. It is here in Eretz Yisrael that we find ourselves upon the most fertile spiritual ground, which allows us to reach complete self-expression, without any foreign rule constricting the ideals and the values of the Jewish spirit.
Rabbi Ari Waxman

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

[6] MAH RABBU MAASECHA HASHEM...
Tarsier
Last week's column dealt with the order of mammals known as primates. Sub- orders of include humans, apes, monkeys, and the "lowest" (most primative) suborder of primates, the prosimians. One kind of prosimian is the tarsier, found today only in southeastern Asia... In trees they propel themselves from branch to branch with powerful thrusts of their hind legs, using the soft, disc-like pads on their fingers and toes to grip the branches. On the ground they proceed in frog-like hops... hind legs are twice as long as forelimbs, with extra bones and built-in shock absorbers... body length of these popeyed little animals is about 15cm, tail is almost twice as long as the body, weigh about 130g. Enormous round eyes are set close together in a flat face. Proportional to its size, tarsiers have the largest eyes of any mammal. Each eye is bigger than the tarsier's brain! Good night vision... excellent hearing too... capable of turning their head in any direction through a full 180 degrees, like an owl (but their eyes don't move within their sockets)... feed on insects and lizards and also small fish and crabs. When seizing its prey, the tarsier closes its eyes tightly to prevent injury from the victim’s struggles... nocturnal, forest-dwelling... arboreal... at least 3 species... dense brown fur. They are believed to mate for life and to form family groups. Loud, single note call, and soft, sweet bird-like trill...

[7] Letters to Torah Tidbits
A TT reader called our attention to an error in the description of the SHIRA from B'shalach as it is written in a Sefer Torah. The error resulted from an erroneous reading of an unclear Tikun (got that?). Here is the relevant part of the description.

The column that contains the Shira starts with 5 lines belonging to the previous parsha. [The first word on the SHIRA column is HABA'IM. There are only 5 columns (of 245 or so) that don't begin with a VAV (in most Sifrei Torah).] Then a line is skipped and then the first line of AZ YASHIR is written. The next line has one word, a blank space, a group of words (from 3-5 words), another blank space, and then a single word to end the line. The next line starts with a group of words (2-6 words), a space, and another group of words (3-5 words). The pattern of 1-space-group- space-1 followed by group- space-group is repeated for a total of 28lines (14 pairs of lines). Then there is one more 1-space-group-space-1 line. Then a line is skipped. Five more "regular" lines of Torah text finish off the column. The review: 5 lines + a skipped line top and bottom of the column total 12 lines. The Shira itself has one full line (the first line), and 29 lines in a brick pattern. 30 + 12 = 42 lines, as most Sifrei Torah have. The column with the Shira has the same number of lines as all the other Torah columns, but is wider than all the other (244 or so) columns. [The break in the middle of the third line from the bottom has nothing to do with the special format of the SHIRA; it is a "regular" space preceding a parsha s'tuma.

A few readers wrote to question the bracha for an earthquake (as was written in the WORD OF THE MONTH box on page 2). I (Phil) stand by SHEKO- CHO UGVURATO MALEI OLAM, notwithstanding what it seems to say in the Shulchan Aruch and the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch. As far as sidurim are concerned, although the ArtScroll sidur clearlysays the bracha for an earthquake is OSEH MAA- SEI V'REISHIT, Rinat Yisrael and Eizor Eliyahu (GR"A) say SHEKOCHO UGVURATO. And so does the Mishna.
But more than this, the Mishna B'rura has a discussion about powerful winds, which are "supposed" to get an SHEKOCHO UGVURATO bracha, but he (MB) says that we are not expert enough to distinguish between "regular" stong winds and especially powerful ones that "rage". Therefore, we should "play it safe" and say OSEH MAASEIV'REISHIT on strong winds. The implication is that OSHEH MAASEI V'REISHIT is a more inclusive bracha for displays of nature (as SHEHAKOL is for food), and that SHEKOCHO UGVURATO is reserved for the definite powerful displays of G-d's might. This is my own reading on the issue and I'm open to further discussion on the topic. And not that what I'm about to say is a definitive method of determining halacha, but earthquakes seem to definitely be in the same class as thunder and "furious" high winds (hurricane? tornado?), as powerful displays of G-d's might, whereas the visual displays of nature, in contrast to the ones we hear and feel, fit better with the OSEH MAASEI V'REISHIT bracha.

I'm sure we'll be writing more about the bracha for earthquakes. May HaShem keep earthquakes in the realm of an academic discussion about its bracha and not feel the need (so to speak) to have us experience them.
BTW, the MB quotes Eliya Raba in the name of Avudraham, that the meaning of SHEKOCHO UGVURATO MALEI OLAM is our acknowledgement that G-d gave nature the power to show us some of the power of the Creator, to engender YIR'AT HASHEM in us. The points to the whole point in brachot - to help us always be aware of G-d's constant involvement in the world.

[8] Divrei Menachem
Parshat Mishpatim provides us, the Jewish people, with a guiding set of principles and laws as we attempt to live up to our life's mission of building a model society based on Torah values. Following directly on the heels of the 10 Commandments, Mishpatim introduces us to civil and tort law, and the laws of the Altar.

The message is that for the Torah all areas of life are intertwined; there is not an act or event that cannot be elevated to the level of holiness. The Torah does not distinguish between ritual piety and business ethics or between matters of State and Religion. So our parsha deals equivalently with damages, the rights of bondsmen, manslaughter, seduction, the integrity of the judicial process and Shabbat observance.

Perhaps the most poignant section of Mishpatim refers to the rights of the oppressed, in particular the widow and orphan. Often helpless or abandoned, they are vulnerable, frequently exploited. Describing the oppressors, the text uses the double form of the verb no less than three times: "Im Aneh Te'Aneh… Ki Im Za'ok Yitz'ak…Shamo'ah Eshmah" - 'If you [dare] cause pain… If he will surely cry out… I shall definitely hear! (Sh'mot 22:22).'

The implication is clear: this kind of behavior is untenable under any circumstances. The Maharam adds that G-d will avenge the wrongdoing whether or not the widow and orphan wail, but more so if their pain causes them to shout out. Moreover, notes the Gemara (Bava Batra 16a), referring to Peninah's vexing of the childless Chana (Shmuel Alef 1:6), even if the motive was pure so that Chana would pray - the means were unacceptable.
Shabbat Shalom, Menachem Persoff

[The Parshat Mishpatim Homepage]
[The TORAH tidbits Homepage] [How to use TORAH tidbits]
[About The OU/NCSY Israel Center] [About TORAH tidbits]
[www.ou.org]