ראה תשפ״ב

00:04 Speaker 1 This year. So let's start off with a word connected to the Erev, Erev Rosh Chodesh, going into Elul. So we have here-- This is from the, uh, page of the Masanot HaKehuvvah. So we have the phrase of Teshuva, Tfilot, Tzedakah, Ve'avdin Esrei Hagezarah. And on top of those three words of Teshuva, Tfilot, Tzedakah, we have the little words Tshuv, Koil, and Momin. Now, it is well known that this Momin is gematria a hundred and thirty-six, as is Koil, and as Tshuv. They say all those three have the same gematria. The significance of them having the same gematria, this is already mentioned in Rishonim, in late Rishonim. I've seen it in, um, HaGaos Min Hagim. You've got Min Hagim by Rav Ron Clozner, and he mentions this, the, uh, parallel of Tshuv, Koil, and Momin. Then in passing, I saw quoted in, as I, as I mentioned last week, I think. I've been reading the memoirs of Rabbi Saul Jacobson, and on one page, he quotes this word, which I'm gonna repeat now. This word, after a bit of research, I found that this word was said by, by Rav Shamshon of Astropol, Ostropol. Rav Shamshon of Ostropol was, uh, about, about four hundred years ago, probably. Um, brilliant, brilliant Goan. Um, it's like his, his writings are full of amazing gematria. Uh, unfortunately, he was killed, Al Kidush Hashem. He might have been in the, uh, pogroms of Tah v'Tat. I'm not sure. I think it was around then. So he points out the following.

02:11 Speaker 1 We have a posek in Tehillim, "Ish bar lo yedo, uchesed lo yovin es zos." The ignorant person will not realize, and the fool will not understand this. So he says the following. We've got the Tshuv, Koil, Momin, each one equals one thirty-six. Twice thirty-six-- Sorry, so twice one thirty-six is two hundred and seventy-two. Bar is two hundred and seventy-two. "Ish bar lo yedo." So if a person is missing of the three inyonim of Teshuva, Tfilot, Tzedakah, if he's got one of them, either T-Tshuv, or Koil, or Momin, so that's, that's one level. He's missing-- "Bar lo yedo." He's missing t-two hundred and seventy-two, two of those inyonim. So he's missing some very important stuff. Then you have "chesed." "Chesed" is a fool who's worse than a bar. "Lo yovin es zos," he's unaware of zos. Zos is gematria four hundred and eight. Uh, hundred and thirty-six times three is four hundred and eight. So a "chesed lo yovin es zos," he doesn't have any of the three. He doesn't have-- not neither Tshuv, nor Koil, nor, nor Momin, neither Teshuva, nor Tfilot, nor, nor Tzedakah. So that is a "chesed." On the, on the-- Rav, Rav Shamshon of Astropol, this is what Rav Yisroel Jacobson brings. In the various places where I saw this, they say that, "VeZos Yovear Arei Nei'la Chodesh." That the arei, the King Godel enters the Kodesh HaKodashim with the zos. So again, he uses the same gematria, the zos, four hundred and eight. Four hundred and eight is the power

04:05 Speaker 1 of Teshuva, Tfilot, and Tzedakah, Tshuv, Koil, Momin, all those three qualities coming together. "VeZos Yovear Arei Nei'la Chodesh." That's a nice word which I saw. I wanted to share it with you. And for now, I was walking on the street and someone stopped me, and he asks me, "It's made of wheat." And he's got a wheat intolerance. Therefore, he wants to make hamotzi and have a little from his lechem misha. But then abared. But, um, he, he doesn't-- He looks like he's using regular challahs. He wants to know whether he can have a little bit to be motzi and have other... So there we go. So we have here, uh, a-- I, I said to him that on the-- comes the night of Pesach. So when you give out lechem misha, you-- the baal bayis makes hamotzi with the two matz-- three matzahs. How much do you give out to the people around the table? He doesn't have a matzah for everyone. So just relying on just a little bit and the rest, at least it must have been the chametz. So this actually we have here from the Piscat Shayvus in Siman Ayin Daled. So he's writing here, when there's many mishtartfim, many participants, for whatever reason, it also can be enough to give a little bit of lechem- So here, this is a question from a refugee camp somewhere in Europe, and they have a sefer Torah. And now, the halacha is if you bring a sefer Torah to another location, you have

06:36 Speaker 1 to treat it with respect. You have to create a, um, a respectable place for it. So for this, they were quite, uh, I think, resourceful, and they got hold of a... I-- in English, I think it's called an ottoman, and it's like a-- it's a bench, uh, of sorts. And they've taken this and put it on its side, and they're using this as a Aron Kodesh. So there are This is, they will-- uh, quite a clever idea. I think it is respectful, and they're using this katalus obviously as a pareches. On the other hand, once they've finished, I don't see a problem of them leaving it for the hotel because ein od zeh dom sh'lcha, your property. So therefore, they let you use it, but you cannot consecrate something which isn't your property. Therefore, I didn't see that's a problem that they should, um, then, uh, leave it. I'm gonna go on to the next question. Um, uh, um, I apolo-apologize for the poor sound. I have applied... Um, I have applied for a, for a, uh, upgraded, a faster, a faster, um, broadband, and hopefully by next week, it will be faster. I apologize for the, for the nuisance the way it's messing around. Let's move on to the next question, and this was a parable. And they have, Baruch Hashem, moved into a new base. They have in there which is a, a safe. Now, generally, the halacha is that with a disused Aron Kodesh, it needs to be put in genizah. Well,

09:18 Speaker 1 they would guess the best way would to dismantle it and put it in, um, and bury it. Here, with a safe, that's gonna be a much harder thing to do. And so they're asking is there a solution. So it's gonna be very interesting. Again, it's Ketuvos, um, where he writes the following. That some poskim say that... If it just wants more, what I'm going to do, I was going to switch off and ask them, and we're going to turn the whole shiloh again and stop messing around. Okay, so there we are. Um, so what they're saying is that when do you say that it is sacred, and you cannot change it for anything else? It's only if it's possible that someone else will use it for a sefer Torah. But things like, um, which cannot-- they, they're not-- there's no intention for them that, that it cannot be used for another sefer Torah, so to speak. Um, well. So, you know, there were things, things like bells and things like that, you cannot say, "Now I'm going to sell them for other use." Because they're, they are clearly just for a sefer Torah. But things which can be used for other things, so then the assumption is that even though when they were consecrated, it was only consecrated for the time that they will be in use. And after that, they-- after they're no longer ne-needed, they will be, um, sold for mundane things. So the poiel of the poskim do allow selling this safe.

11:03 Speaker 1 If it cannot be used for Aron Kodesh, you could sell it and use it for something, uh, something, for, for something else. Let's move on to the next question. Here's a person and they have a roof here which they only go up to the roof only for maintenances and don't use the roof for anything else. He's asking two questions. Does here, which has been put up for legal reasons. Does-- We know that a flat don't need to have... Well, let's read the Alter Rebbe's halacha more carefully. What does Alter Rebbe say here? It's a mitzvah to make a ma'akeh around your roof. And then he says that's only for a dwelling. Beis Haknesses or Beis HaMidrash or Beis Toirah, it's, uh, Beis HaMidrash or a warehouse, a stable. Does not need to have a markeh, and he-- but he explains, "Shehamah shalgageh, klal deshamah shalgageh." It's not normal to use the roofs of these premises for, for, uh, regular use. "V'lo hein gagen sh'lon dopturim." That's why our roofs are exempt from markeh. So if, uh, the sloping roof is exempt from markeh because it's not c-commonly used. And so he's saying clearly the same thing with the Beis HaBakor, with the Beis Oitzah. That a w-warehouse is ain regulus to use the roof for a markeh, for, for, for, for use. And therefore, it's exempt from, um, the din of markeh. Because then on the other hand, though, if it would be a chir of markeh, so he looks around, is the din of

13:07 Speaker 1 markeh, the din of shmirah, is the din of mechitza. The past is-- you'd say it's in of shmirah, of g- of protection. And this railing which you have seen, I think it does serve as a protection. But if you say it's a din of, um, of mechitza, the Torah has, have given a mechit-- to put up a mechitza, so this doesn't count as, as a mechitza because it's got such large gaps. So it-- I say it's not high of being a markeh, but it would be markeh, this wouldn't be adequate. Let's move on. Okay. So last week, this came up in discussion about davening Mincha just before Shkiyah and davening Ma'ariv after Shkiyah. And someone challenged me a little bit about this, and I'm going to read the Alter Rebe's Shulchan Aruch, and then we'll come back to the week-- to the psak of last week. So, this is in Siman Reis Samech Zayin, where it talks about the Mekabelas Shabbos, and it says the following. That even those who daven Ma'ariv bizmanam, in other words, after dark, after the Tzeis HaKochavim, the whole week. On Sha-- On Friday, you can then-- Friday evening, you can daven Mincha. You can daven Ma'ariv, sorry, from Plag Hamincha. Why is that? So we have a Machloket in Gemara between Rabbi Yehuda and Chachomim. Rabbi Yehuda says that the time for that-- the cutoff of Mincha and the beginning of Ma'ariv is from Plag Hamincha, which is, uh, an hour and a quarter before the end of the

14:52 Speaker 1 day. So what Alter Rebe is saying, although generally it says that you shouldn't, um, skip around one day like Re-Re-Rabbi Yehuda want... All right, again, um, the Chach-- Gemara says in Pesachim, "De'ovik Rabbi Yehuda ovid, de'ovik Chachom ovid." You can choose to follow Rabbi Yehuda, you can choose to follow the Chachomim. The way it's written in Shulchan Aruch in Siman Reis Lamed Gimmel, you shouldn't be chopping and, and changing between one day and the other. One day like a Yehuda, one day like a Chachom. Notwithstanding that, when it comes to Friday evening, then you are allowed to follow Rabbi Yehuda, although the whole week you've been following the Chachom. That's what the Alter Rebe is saying here. Even though the other day, at this time, you're davening Ma'ariv. Now, other days, you would daven Mincha. So you are, um, giving two controls. That's not a problem for Friday evening. Why is that? Because of the Mitzvah to daven Ma'ariv. To Shabbos from the week. That's, that's the-- That's why it's allowed. Then the Alter Rebe says, . On Friday, if you want to daven Ma'ariv early, that's good, but you have to daven Mincha earlier before Plag Hamincha, because otherwise, you're davening Mincha late. So we have here s- this, this week. This week, I see that Plag Hamincha is six thirty. And is seven fifteen. Or something like that. That means that your Shkiyah is going to be at, uh, at eight o'clock. So now, here's the question. You want to daven Mincha, let's

17:12 Speaker 1 say, at seven thirty, and daven Ma'ariv at eight o'clock. So once you already davened Mincha after six thirty, you're following the Chachomim, that even after Plag Hamincha, you can still daven Mincha. If-- So you like, until it's time for davening Ma'ariv or Mincha, let's just say an hour and a quarter of the day. We have a concept of Zmanim, when we take the day and divide into twelve parts, and each part is an hour. But when does the day start and end? So there are two schools of thought in this. There's the Magen Avraham, and there's the Alter Rebe, and they're grown approximately the same. The Lavush- And that is, one approach is that you count the day from dawn until tzeis hakochavim. That's a longer day. Or the other opinion is you take from sunrise to sunset, and that's what the Alter Rebbe paskens. Now, we follow the day ki- for the hours. For dividing the twelve hours is from sunrise to sunset. As a result of this, you look in every luach, you'll see that the sof zman kriat shma of the Alter Rebbe is approximately, uh, uh, thirty-six minutes later than the Magen Avraham. Because of this, the question of da, day and the day for counting choice. Magen Avraham's man or Shulchan Aruch is, is an, um, Plag Hamincha is an hour and a quarter from tzeis hakochavim. Now, from shkiya to tzeis hakochavim is dalet de'amin, eighteen time... Four times eighteen, and that's seventy-two minutes. Plag Hamincha is then, as

19:14 Speaker 1 I said, an hour and a quarter, seventy-five minutes. So the difference between Plag Hamincha, seventy-five minutes before tzeis hakochavim, and shkiya, which is seventy, seventy-two minutes before tzeis hakochavim, is a very small difference. Indeed, Rabbi that the reason why Judah says from... We don't paskin that way. When we paskin Plag Hamincha and we, we, we're taking Plag Hamincha, as I said, it's gonna be six thirty or something. Because we're taking the-- dividing the day from sunrise to sunset, and that makes Plag Hamincha that much earlier. But there certainly is an opinion in Halakha that Plag Hamincha is sunset. If so, Mincha at sunset, contradictory opinions. Because there is an authentic Halakha opi- uh, uh, view that, uh, this is where the kata, the, the dividing line of Plag Hamincha is actually between the two tefillahs which you just doubt. What's interesting is that the Alter Rebbe is doing here, that the Magen Avraham from Mincha into Ma'ariv, which is pretty much standard, uh, practice in many Ashkenaz shuls. Now, they daven Mincha or Sephardic shuls also probably, but they go from Mincha straight into Ma'ariv. Ad kerechah that Nusach Ashkenaz doesn't say Kaddish before Borchu by Ma'ariv. And the reason is because it's, they just said Kaddish for Mincha. At the end of Mincha, they said Kaddish. Do you want to make another Kaddish before Ma'ariv? So, so th- this is quite a widespread thing, and the Alter Rebbe doesn't bring that, which is interesting. Which would... to mitigate this whole question. The Alter Rebbe

21:13 Speaker 1 introduced a new, uh, way of making the knives for the trichot, a much smoother knife. And as it's going to cast aspersions on previous generations, where they used the heavier types of knives. He says, "That's not a problem. Because, because it's okay for a kehillah to take on new chumras." And he gives two examples. He says about people being more careful about Chadash, and he says about people being careful of ra- of late, of davening Ma'ariv b'zman. Possibly, there was a change here. They lived in a more rural setting, so it was harder to come back or, uh, more practical for people to come back or, or for Ma'ariv or to stay on for Ma'ariv or to go on, go home after a little... once it's dark. Perhaps because of the change of lifestyle. So anyway, the Alter Rebbe says that people of late are being more particular to daven Ma'ariv b'zman. That may be why the Alter Rebbe drops this, um, heter of the Magen Avraham, that it's a heter to daven Ma'ariv right after Mincha, um, because otherwise you won't get the minyan together. Okay, let's move on to the next point. So the next question is, and we don't have a slide for that. Is it, uh, is there... What's the story of a Jewish darkening a late night for a neural, um, concept of, uh, trusting a, a tradesman that they're not going to ruin their reputation? That's mentioned in various contexts. I did not find that in the Dinim of

22:59 Speaker 1 Yehud. And therefore, there is here an issue of Yehud. Um, how is it going to solve this problem? Um-

23:14 Speaker 2 Rabbi Haski, maybe you should disconnect and connect again because it's terrible the whole time.

23:20 Speaker 1 Locked in the windows. That is, it does... Pardon?

23:25 Speaker 2 Maybe you should disconnect and connect again. It's not possible to hear anything.

23:31 Speaker 1 Uh, all right.

23:32 Speaker 2 It's being interrupted the entire time.

23:37 Speaker 1 Interrupted?

23:38 Speaker 2 Yeah, the whole time it's interrupted. No, the connection is very bad.

23:41 Speaker 1 Okay.

23:42 Speaker 2 Very poor.

23:42 Speaker 1 So I'm going to... All right, Shfarah, I'm going to switch off, and I'm going to re- um, restart the machine, and give me about three minutes, bezrat Hashem. Okay? Thank you for your input. Here is the new... Talked about using a doc. Let's move on. Question. Someone asked me a question, very interesting question about you, but you, um... It says that you're not allowed to wash yourself with cold water and then bathe near a fire. Sorry, and then warm yourself near a fire. Because that means you're warming up the water on your body, so you're bathing with warm water. So he asked the question. His brother asked the question. If so, here's the question of, uh, walking on the ground, on the floor heating, you, you warm the water-

25:13 Speaker 2 Still the same. Really? Don, you have the same problem. It's not working. Possibly by the underfloor heating. Go chill a minute. So there we go. That we have here a letter-- a couple of answers of the Rebbe. In the case of a father Jewish-- mo-mother Jewish, father not Jewish, that there may be a question of geyrus. Now, let's-- the Rebbe, in this place, he gives a reference. In this letter, he gives, "Ayin gam kein, pische teshuva, Even HaEzer, siman dalet," He refers us to the Piskei Teshuva in Even HaEzer. So, um, I have that in front of me. You can look it up yourself later. In Piskei Teshuva, in siman dalet, he quotes here that the, the Goan of Lisna, that's the Habas Das, he felt that based upon the Rashi in Kidushei Sotah es, that the-- when a child is born to a non-Jewish father, there is a need for geyrus. And he says that a goy has got yichus, the idea of fatherhood, lineage. A goy has lineage. Like, an eved does not have lineage. And when the child is born from a Jewish mother and a goy father, he still has a lineage to his goy father. When he goes through a geyrus, then he will be disconnected from his goy father, and then he becomes a full-fledged Yid. But until then, there is a need for, uh, a, a, a, is, is-- a, a need for geyrus. So there is this opinion, and probably what the Rebbe is suggesting here, l'chumrah,

27:11 Speaker 2 one should do a, a process of geyrus in this ca-case to make him, uh, um, a ge-a goy, uh, a Yid l'kol elul, according to all poskim. What struck me very, um, amazing about this psak, and if so, this would raise a question of doing a bris on Shabbos for a child whose-- a boy whose mother is Jewish and father isn't. According to this chumrah, one wouldn't be allowed to do the bris on Shabbos. Um, let's move on to the next question. Someone sent me a challah dish. Let me send, send a picture. Uh, the challah dish, which has got, uh, in gold, it's got, um, written, "Baruch ata Hashem, elokeinu melech ha-olam, hamotzi lechem min ha'aretz." So it's got in gold lettering, stuck onto this challah dish, um, Hashem's name. Now, Hashem is written Yud Yud, but elokeinu is written properly with a He. Um, and so now, are you allowed to use this dish? So what I'm seeing in contemporary sfarim, that if you did have Hashem's name written on a dish, you wouldn't be allowed to use that dish. It would be-- kind of make the whole dish, um, sacred, and it would be in-in-inappropriate, uh, to use that dish. It would be like a status of kedushas. Another question which came in this week is a shliach somewhere in, uh, one of the islands in, in one of the, um, the Mediterranean, Mediterranean islands. And he's asking, it's the first time he's there for, uh, Shemitah. Is it okay to use

28:54 Speaker 2 esrogim from Eretz Yisrael to bring, uh, in, to bring, import esrogim from Eretz Yisrael for his community? So now, the esrogim of Eretz Yisrael will have the din of Shemitah. Is it allowed to export Shemitah? So this, there's one issue which is b'chlal of, uh, that's kedushas t'ruias. But there's a separate thing, that there is a isur d'Rabbonan to export Shemitah produce over to, uh, out of the country. So that which you buy in the market here, you can buy in England, you can buy a lot of Shemitah stuff. We don't-- That, that's a violation of the dinim of Shemitah because they shouldn't be selling Shemitah stuff overseas. Going back about a hundred and fifty years ago, there were the pioneers in Eretz Yisrael, and they were planting the esrogim. And they, uh, if they would not be allowed to sell their esrogim overseas, they would not have parnasah for a year. And they were ve-very, very desperate about this. It's very difficult times. And so they asked the Rabbonim at the time, who said that the reason for not exporting Shemitah produce is so that there should be ample provision of, of, uh, of food for the people in Eretz Yisrael. So if they're gonna start exporting, there's not gonna be enough for lo-locally. So here, they say, but in this case, there's an exception to this rule. Because if they're not going to export the fruit, the esrog of Eretz Yisrael, then the Yidden Eretz Yisrael not have what to eat. So on

30:24 Speaker 2 that basis, the Rabbonim at the time, let's say a hundred and fifty years ago, did allow the exporting of Eretz Yisrael esrog, esrogim to chutz la'aretz because of the desperate, desperate, um, situation of the parnasah for the Yidden there. So coming back to the practical, uh, the answer, is there a basis to export Eretz Yisrael esrogim? There are mechulim. Is it ideal? And the answer is no. Actually, if you can manage without it, that would be recommended. Um, one last question for today, and that is that someone asked me yesterday, two, two days ago. That's fact, espe-- in the word Elokim Acherim, which is the beginning of today's Parsha. And this man is not a Lubavitcher. He picked up a Likutei Sichos of this week's Sefer. And it has there the word Elokim Acherim spelled with a Kuf. And he questioned that, and he says he's not totally surprised. In the Noam Elimelech also, he has Elokim Acherim written with a Kuf. But he's asking why. Why, if it's Aveh dezarah, so we, we say we don't want to say Hashem's name in vain, so we say Elokim with a Kuf instead of with a He out of respect. But if it's Aveh dezarah, there's no need to respect Aveh dezarah. So why is it not-- why shouldn't we say with a He, um, in a... So this, this question actually was addressed by the Rebbe in, uh, you can find it in Likutei Sichos volume twenty-four, page four fifty-three. And he writes the following.

32:01 Speaker 2 M-in response to your question, Mur Ge'ul Vefi HaOlam. It is common practice, the Olam, this Nahemish Olam, will say Elokim Acherim in reference to Aveh dezarah, and they would say it with a Kuf, even though they're talking about Aveh dezarah. Ve'ulai yesh lekasher im pirush haRamban, Devarim, um, uh, twenty-one and twenty-two, kenan chulus shechoshash chulu. Rebbe says perhaps the reason why even for Elokim Ach-- for Aveh dezarah we use the term Elokim Acherim rather than saying with a He is, uh, based upon the Ramban. So I looked up the Ramban, which I'm gonna share with you. It's on the Pasuk of the din of if a person had been hanged. They're put to death by hanging. So then it says, "Lo sol limivlosai al ha'etz." Do not leave the dead body, the corpse, hanging from a tree. "Kikover tikberenu bayom hahu." You should surely bury him on that very day. "Ki kilalas Elokim tolu." Because the disgrace of Hashem is hanging. Um, what's the end of the Pasuk? Um, "Ve'es hatamei stad maras marascha." He shouldn't defile the land. On this, the Ramban has got a longer discussion, but he, he refers to, um, Rashi mentions about two people, two brothers. One is a melech, and one is a, a, a gangster. And the gangster was caught, and he was hanged. Um, but the king is disgraced because his, his, his parallel, so to speak, his, his, his, his, his disgrace. So the disgrace of the parallel is a disgrace for the king. Now, there's

33:53 Speaker 2 a story in Yosef or Yehoshua where they-- when they, uh, after they made the pact with the people of Givon, then a, a number of nations, number, a number of kings in Canaan, Eretz Canaan, got together to attack the Yidden, to attack-- they attacked, attacked Givon, and the Yidden protected Givon. So there's a whole battle, and Yehoshua led them in the battle. And they then captured five kings of those armies. They were trapped in a cave, and then they, and then they were hanged. And then Yehoshua said, "We're not going to leave them hanging. We're going to bury them." So on this, the Ramban comments, "Et min halav hazeh kova Yehoshua malchi Canaan be'yomom." It's because of this, "Lo sol limivlosai," because of this lav, Yehoshua buried the kings of Canaan then. Although it's got nothing to do with disgrace of m-of magadeif. They hadn't said anything against Hashem. It's nothing to do with that. But it has got to do with, "Lo tumah se'omeretz," um, as it says, "Ve'es hatamei stad marascha." But here's the next point which I'm going to try, going to try to explain. "Osh shechoshash nekilalas Elokim min hamoshel shel shnei ha'achim." Or that he was concerned that it is a disgrace for the Eibishter, like the moshel of the two brothers. So what is the-- Ramban is saying that the mitzvah of burying rather than leaving hanging is even though that person is a roshe, but because he's got a counterpart who is, who is, uh, who is not

35:31 Speaker 2 the roshe, therefore, don't disgrace this one because it shouldn't have a disgraceful, uh, impact on the one which you, uh, want to respect. Possibly, this is what the Rebbe is saying here. That to use Elokim Acherim in a disgraceful way for Aveh dezarah, but that would somehow possibly filter and also be used the name Elokim disrespectfully even for the Eibishter. And as a result, um, we-- when it comes to Aveh dezarah, we don't say Elokim with a He. We say it Elokim. So in other words, when it perhaps-- when it's got to do with Dayyonim, I don't know. When it, when it's got to do with, with, um, with, with worship. So what's being said here is, "Don't use the term, um, Elokim with a He in a disrespectful way because the-- because that would have a bearing as if also when you're referring to Hashem, it would also have a degree of disrespect." And therefore, it remains, um, we say by Aveh dezarah, we also say Elokim Acherim. Okay, that's the, uh, what I have to share with you tonight. Um, Bes Hashem, next week, we should be up and running better. And I wish you all a Guten Shabbes and a Guten Chodesh and a Kasiva v'chasima tova. Thank you for bearing with us all this time.