Q My wife and I will be spending part of Chanuka in a guesthouse as part of a group. The group will be the only ones on the premises. Part of my family will be at home. Do I light Chanuka candles where I am and, if so, where? A The gemara (Shabbat 23a) says that a guest is obligated to light Chanuka candles at his host's home but that it is sufficient to give money for some of the oil that is used to be included in their lighting. (Some say that more oil must be added in order for the contribution to be significant (Mishna Berura 677:3)). The gemara adds that Rav Zeira, who used to pay toward the oil, stopped doing so once he got married (but was sometimes away from home by himself), because his wife would light for him in his home (the understanding of most poskim). Thus, it would seem that as long as there are bar/bat mitzva age children at home lighting, you are exempt from lighting outside the home. The only provision one should immediately add is that the Taz (677:1) assumes that a wife is automatically assumed to light with her husband in mind, while others in the household should have their parent(s) in mind specifically. However, there are additional factors that complicate matters, and these factors are different for Ashkenazim and Sephardim. The Maharil, one of the pillars of Ashkenazic p'sak and especially, minhag, says that nowadays a person who is staying at inns of different sorts should light his own candles. This is because two things have changed. One is that the place of lighting with the related pirsumei nisa (publicizing of the miracle) has been moved indoors. Secondly, now we customarily have all the members of a household light. Therefore, if one of the guests does not light, others may think that he has chosen not to take part in the mitzva and may not realize that he has a household where they are lighting for him. Terumat Hadeshen (101) anyway rules that since there is a concept of mehadrin (adding on more Chanuka lighting than is necessary), a guest who is interested in lighting despite being exempt by his family can do so with a beracha. We also prefer a person to light his own candle rather than add on to the host's oil (Mishna Berura ibid.: 3). This is especially pertinent in a case like yours where you are part of a group where everybody is a guest of a commercial institution. This is different than joining an existing household, which more naturally absorbs others (see Chovat Hadar, Chanuka 2:9). As far as where to light, the Rama says that the place where people eat is the proper place to light. One could argue whether it is preferable to also light in or outside one's room [beyond our scope], but given that most guesthouses are understand- ably reluctant to have unnecessary fire hazards, the lighting in the joint dining hall should suffice. For Sephardim, there are two major
differences. Firstly, the Shulchan Aruch (see Beit Yosef 677) does not
accept the Terumat Hadeshen's permission to make a beracha when he is able
to be exempt by his household. Secondly, the Shulchan Aruch says that
where the guests have separate sleeping quarters with a separate entrance
than that of the ba'al habayit, they should light there, as otherwise it
might be suspected that the occupier of the dwelling is not lighting. It
is unclear whether that situation requires lighting with or without a
beracha (when there is a lighting in their own home) and the Kaf Hachayim
(667:9) suggests hearing the beracha from someone who is obligated. Where
there is a problem getting permission to light in the room, it may be
reasonable for Sephardim to light without their own beracha in the joint
dining area and try to ensure that someone lights in front of the building
or wing they sleep, having them in mind. Another direction of leniency is
that in a campus that is occupied by one group whose members light
uniformly, the issue of suspecting one another is weaker than usual. Please leave the subject blank. Ask the
Vebbe Rebbe is partially funded by the Jewish Agency for Israel "I saw,"' said R' Yisrael, "that your
maid carries the water quite a distance from the well, and your house is
on the side of a hill. I noticed how she struggled to carry the water, and
felt that it is improper for a person to carry out the mitzvos on the back
of others.'' In his book, "Derech Chaim" (The Path of Life), a commentary on Pirkei Avot, the Maharal describes how Hashem created the natural forces of the world to act as the agency to maintain balance within the world. When we humans create imbalance, within ourselves, our communities, or within the world itself (the environment), nature acts to return us to that original balance. We then interpret the reaction of nature as punishment and sickness: punishment for our spiritual imbalances, and sickness for our physical imbalances. "Everything is given on collateral, and a net is spread over all the living. The shop is open; the Merchant extends credit; the ledger is open, and the hand writes; and whomever wishes to borrow, let him come and borrow. The collectors make their rounds constantly, every day, and collect payment from the person whether he realizes it or not. They have proof to rely upon; the judgement is a truthful judgement…" (Pirkei Avot 3:2). The "collectors", the forces of nature,
balance our actions that effect the world. This system works "whether he
realizes it or not", with or without our awareness. This system works
under the "net spread over all the living", divine control. He asserts
that each person should not think that he could avoid this balancing
response just because the agents are the forces of nature, as these
afflictions are a direct and intrinsic reaction to our actions. The Rambam describes this process in a similar fashion: "Overeating is like poison to anyone's body. It is the main source of all illness. Most illnesses which afflict a man are caused by harmful foods or by his filling his belly and overeating, even of healthful foods." (Hilchot Deot 4:15) He adds, "the consumption of a little bad food is less harmful than the consumption of a lot of good and healthy food." (The Regimen of Health 1:1) When we overindulge, or eat the wrong foods, we accumulate acidity, toxins and metabolic by-products which the body tries to remove by either 1) expelling them via the bodily fluids, or by 2) concentrating them in the storage organ, the fat, of the body. Obviously, the body prefers to totally expel these unwanted materials from the body, and only stores these toxins in the fat as a second resort. In the state of continuous accumulation of these toxins, deposition then occurs within the vital organs, leading to malfunction, and disease. In order to do either one of the "cleansing" actions, the body has to break down the extra material via its two internal "messengers", enzymes and bacteria. Bacteria reside within the body in all normal circumstances, living within the cavities, such as the mouth, nose, throat, and all throughout the digestive tract. (In contrast to common belief, our bodies are far from being sterile). In the cleansing process, the body produces extra fluids, named catarrh, which flow from the body's orifices to drain away the unwanted substances. . When these fluids increase, the bacteria within the fluids increase their action, breaking down the toxins to further decrease their harm. If the flow of catarrh continues too long, then the bacteria multiply out of balance, creating secondary infections. In addition, we might experience nausea
and vomiting, diarrhea or skin eruptions in order to expel these toxins.
When further assistance is needed, then the body mobilises its enzymes
from other physiologic functions in order to help metabolise, detoxify and
remove the toxins. In order to improve the function of these enzymes, the
body temperature rises, leading to what we experience as fever. The body
also diverts blood away from less vital organs, such as the digestive
system, to the vital organs, such as the liver, heart, kidneys, glands and
lymphatic system. We experience this as a decrease in appetite, and nausea
with eating. <cont. next week, IY"H> Yehuda Ben-Asher, M.D. publishes a
bimonthly newsletter, The Natural Path. Dr. Ben-Asher has a Jerusalem
practice in Naturopathic Medicine. 993-3446 Pronounced "shammy", its scientific
name is Rupicapra rupicapra (the capra part of the name means goat)...
found among the mountain crags of Europe and western Asia. Both sexes have
slender vertical distinctive, hook-shaped horns... Remark- ably agile, it
can gallop on uneven, rocky ground and jump up to 6 feet high... Its
nimbleness and acrobatics give it access to hard-to-reach areas, easing
competition for the grasses, herbs, and flowers it prefers to eat... In
winter... dines on pine shoots, lichens, and mosses... Males live a
solitary life; they are territorial and fight for a harem at mating time.
Females and young usually form herds of five to thirty members. A posted
sentinel warns the others of danger by stamping its feet and emitting a
high-pitched whistle through its nose. Tawny brown fur in summer;
chocolate brown in winter; white patch on throat; black tail, black back
stripe, and black markings on its face... flexible hoof pads...kids are
born in the spring (multiple births are rare) after about 6 months
gestation... hunted for meat and its very soft skin... the term chamois
leather now applies also to leather made from other animals... At his father's behest, Yosef goes looking for his brothers in Shechem. He knows it's a dangerous assignment, and when he sees his brothers aren't there, he could have returned home and told his father he couldn't find them. Instead, he persists until he finds "the man," an angel, who directs him to Dotan. (Rashbam) Reuven beseeches his brothers not to kill Yosef, proposing that they throw him into a pit instead. The Torah tells us that his intention was to come back later and rescue him and Rashi says that his motive was to evade blame (since he was the first-born). The Maharshal asks, Why doesn't Rashi give Reuven the benefit of the doubt? Maybe he really wanted to save his brother? Answer: If Reuven's intentions had been so lofty he, and not Yehuda, would have received the most favorable blessing from Ya'acov. When the brothers show their father Yosef's bloody cloak, Ya'acov concludes that Yosef has been killed and begins a period of mourning that lasts 22 years. Rashi says that Ya'acov's 22 years of mourning were a consequence of the 22 years he spent with Lavan, when he did not honor his parents. But wasn't he fulfilling his parents' request that he go find a wife? Rabbenu Bechaye answers: If his motive had been solely to find a wife, he would have taken Leah and returned home immediately. In staying longer to acquire Rachel, he showed that his real intention was not meeting his parents' demands, but his own needs. Whether the mitzva is respecting our
parents or yishuv Eretz Yisrael it is critical that we examine our motives
and make sure that they are not excuses for not doing what the Torah
demands of us. 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 A fierce discussion emerges as to the nature of that miracle. If the flask of pure oil to light the Temple Menora was but enough to last one day, how could G-d perform a miracle that would enable this same quantity of oil to burn continuously for eight days? For this would contradict the halachic ruling that wicks be replaced daily, that every day the oil be freshly ground from olives picked from the tree (cf. Rambam, Hilchot Issurei Hamizbe'ach 7:8). Argues Rabbi Yisrael Ariel: It is more
appropriate to believe that the miracle lay in the natural process and
human effort that led to the discovery of the lone flask, the dedication
of the Altar, and the setting up of a makeshift Menora, as described in
Megilat Ta'anit. Surely, he argues, when we read that the Kohanim "lit the
Menora" for eight days (Hilchot Rambam 3:1), they did exactly that [with
small quantities of oil]. For what G-d desires is not to remove the
possibilities of serving Him, but to create them. [The Parshat Vayeishev Homepage]
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