מים ששהו לילה בכלי מתכת – שופטים תשפ״ב

00:09 Speaker 1 Good evening, and welcome to the shiur. Tonight, Pashas Th- Thursday evening of Pashas Sheftim. And what I'm gonna do is, because last week we had very poor reception or disruption to our, to the shiur, so I'm going to go through some of those questions, uh, and answers briefly. Um, before that, I want to sh- go through the first point on our quest- on our list, which is more like, um, more viewer to fill rather than, than a Halakha question. So someone asked me this week-- So someone asked me that he was, uh, he was davening with Kavana on, uh, last Shabbos, and he noticed that on Shabbos Rosh Chodesh, we were saying, "Limchilas chet v'lisichas avei." And he was asking, "Is that the kind of thing that we talk about on Shabbos?" During the Shabbos, you don't say Tachnun, and so he, he was concerned about that. Before answering the question- Call from- Bear in mind, I'm sure this is a familiar point, that there are twelve expressions here. Isn't, isn't? The Tovov v'livracha, v'zachtin u'lsimcha, u'reshun u'nechama. V'saparnasa hakola, that's eight so far. Chayim tovim u'mashal, and that's ten. Chilas chet v'lisichas avei is twelve. And in Nusach Sfarad, they add in Aliv yom, in Aliv yom, they add also L'chaparas asha. So there is a remez here for the twelve months of the year. So that's, uh, that's probably why we don't want to skip one on Shabbos. But, um, what you have beneath is here a quote from the Alter Rebe Zecher

02:00 Speaker 1 naruch, um, in the Halakhas of Bentsching. And in Bentsching, we do say, "Parnaseinu v'chalkeleinu," provide us parnasah. So then the, the Yerushalmi asked this question, how do we say this kind of thing on Shabbos? So here we have the Alter Rebe's quoting the... This is what the Yerusha- This is based on the Yerushalmi. "V'ein lachush lahasher." Don't worry about Nachmenu, et cetera, because, "Shehadrei omrim parnaseinu v'chalkeleinu." Because we, on Bentsching, we say, "Parnaseinu," provide us parnasah, chalkeleinu, et cetera. "V'ein chosheshin lehisashel lasracham." And we don't worry about, on Shabbos, we shouldn't be asking for our needs, and that's why we miss out. Well, one of the reasons why we miss out the middle part of the Shemoneh Esreh. And the answer is, says Yerushalmi, "Vefishet toifis bracha, bracha kachi." That is the text. That's the set text and therefore you just keep the same text of Bentsching the whole, uh, the whole week. You say the same thing on Shabbos. And so the same thing is, um, in relation to... Well, let's finish off the-- Which refers to the Rachamim, et cetera. "Shekivas shenagu hakol le'omre bechol pam shemevorchim b'chasamos." The things which are said on a daily basis. Talk whenever you bentch. Well, you bentch every day or that's a, a certain thing. But if you-- On, on your regular Bentsching, that's the regular text. Therefore, that becomes a toifis bracha. That's a standard text. And therefore, don't worry about shalas racham. So all right, so here is slightly different. We're talking about michilas

03:36 Speaker 1 chet, lisichas ovei. Happened to be, actually, I was looking at this question. I was-- I got up in the morning and started... As I was saying Birkat Hashachar. So I was thinking of this question, and I noticed in Birkat Hashachar we also say, um, "L'hiye dechet, l'hiye daveir." And we, we, we talking about, you know, in the Dana Bracha, we're also talking about being protected from sin. So, nish gefele. So this, it's a standard text and therefore we say it because of toifis bracha kachi. Now, to go back to last week, so number one, we had, um, someone asked about, um, about a, a Jewish doctor visiting a house, whether a, a, a female client, female patient at night. And, um, so I, I had said it is an issue of yichud. And the fact that a person doesn't want to ruin his reputation and his, uh, l'emora l'umnosei, isn't, isn't, uh, adequate to take away the issue of yichud. The other thing which was left unclear perhaps from last week's disturbance about a heated floor in a mikvah, and what I'd said is that, that the facility has a heated floor, I don't see a problem with that. What I do say, say, uh, uh, what I do see a problem is in the mikvah which I use, there happen to be areas where there are hotspots. To consciously go on Shabbos to the warmer area to warm your feet, which are wet, indeed, I think is a problem because you're doing it specifically

05:20 Speaker 1 to warm your-- to warm yourself and to warm... And therefore, it comes to the inion of, um, washing with warm water on Shabbos, which, which, which we're restricted from doing. Um, right. The other point which, uh, was left a little bit unclear was about makeh, and that we'll get back to at point eleven on today's agenda. Let's go on then to the next point on our list, and that is a young man who works as a, um, well, he works on night shift. He, he starts at four AM, and so he gets up at two AM, which means he has to go to sleep at, say, whatever, six PM, eight PM, and it's still light. So he, what he does, he davens Ma'ariv- When he gets up at two, two AM, that's, that's, that wasn't his question. His question was, he goes to sleep, what we'd call sheyas kevah, but he sleeps for the night. And he goes to sleep at, um, during the day. So does one say Hamapil? We know that if you just have a nap during the day, you don't need to say Hamapil. H- here is the question, but this is his, this is his proper sleep. Does he have to say the brocha Hamapil? Now, in the Gemara, it doesn't say clearly. It just says, "Anichnus lashon." But in the Rishonim, they do have the words, "Anichnus" about balayla. I'm still unconvinced because it could be that he added the word balayla to say, "We don't mean a nap.

06:53 Speaker 1 We mean you- anich- th- this is your proper sleep, your sheyas, sheyas kevah. Um, so it's a little bit, um, open. The Sefer Betzel HaChochma from Rav Betzalel Stern, the Haman Shtei Taluraf, so he addresses mamash this question of a night shift worker for Hamapil, and he takes the view that it's got to do with minhag shel olam. We know that if you get up in the morning after dawn, and you didn't put on, um, shoes, or you didn't change your clothes, or you didn't put on a belt, and you still say the brocha of, uh, bekem, um, um, sort of kol torki or malbesh arumim or osei yisrael bevchira. And the reason for that is because al minhag shel olam hu mevarech. So he wants to say a similar idea with Hamapil, al minhag shel olam. It's not totally identical, he concedes, because, um, we do only say Hamapil when you're actually going to sleep. So it's a-- on the other hand to say that Hamapil is like a birkas ha'nehenin. Before you eat your apple, you make a brocha. Before you go to sleep, make a brocha to enjoy your sleep. That he says is not possible to say that's the pshat, because for example, if you go into a nice warm room or you go into a nice cooled room, or you go into a nice egnez amachai, you don't make a brocha on that. Or you, even if you're going to go into a nice gishmakah mikveh, you don't make a

08:19 Speaker 1 brocha because it's not ingested. It doesn't go into your body. So therefore, to say that you should make a brocha on enjoying sleep, uh, uh, he, he finds it, um... He, he says it's minhag-- it's a birkas ha'dor, al minhag shel olam, and yet it's somehow limited to the time when you're actually doing this, um, going to sleep. The point, he says, it's limited to minhag shel olam, and therefore, if you're sleeping during-- going to sleep during the day, which is not minhag shel olam, you should not be saying Hamapil with a, you know, the full brocha with Hashem's name. I just want to add another point, which maybe he touches on, and that is the following. What happens if you did not daven maariv, and it's now after dawn? It's not yet sunrise, but it's after dawn. So then you do say, you have to say, um, birkas, uh, you have to say, uh, Shema, maariv. So here we have the halacha in Shulchan Aruch, I think. Where is it? In Siman, um, I think it's bet lamed zai, somewhere around there. Hakorei kriat Shema shel arvit. If you're saying Shema after dawn, after amud hashachar, before sunrise, lo yotzu dechivato. You're not yotzer. But if you're an onus, then you... Let's say, why are you onus? Because you were sick here before or you're cholel, whatever it may be. So then you do say Shema, and you're yotzer Shema after alot hashachar, before sunrise. And that's relevant, especially in the northern countries in

09:58 Speaker 1 the s- in the summer. It's very easy to kind of overstep till a-after midnight, which is really dawn. And you'll say, you'll say, um, you'll daven maariv after chatzos. But then you know what? You're gonna have, have a problem to say hashkiveinu. Because after dawn, before sunrise, it says, "Lo yomer hashkiveinu." Once it's really alot-- amud hashachar, ein zu man shkiv. Uh, on that basis, since after alot, alot hashachar is ein zu man shkiv, then you should not be saying Hamapil with the tashkiveinu, Hashem. Now, I'm shooting myself in the foot a little bit because I've been asked this question. Now, so let's just finish off. This fellow who is doing night shift will tell him, "Don't say hashkiveinu with a full beracha." Sorry, "Don't say Hamapil with a full beracha because it's not minhag shel olam." Now, I've been asked this question several times about tahehamapil. If, let's say, in northern regions, and it's summer, and you didn't say, you didn't say, uh, Hamapil, you didn't go to sleep until 2:00 in the morning. And by then it's already after dawn. Do you say Hamapil after, after dawn? And the point which I've said is that in the Alter Rebe's siddur, by Sefiras HaOmer, he says, "From yud cheh Iyar until yud zai Tammuz." So then dawn is so early, it's already after midnight. And therefore, after midnight, you cannot count Sefiras HaOmer. And after midnight, you sh- um, by a fast, you don't allow to eat. So you Sefiras HaOmer Tammuz, you wouldn't

11:44 Speaker 1 be allowed to eat after midnight because midnight is dawn. Why did the Alter Rebe not say, "After midnight, you can't say Hamapil?" Which is a cholel, milkah, de'shlach, a very common, a common thing. So why-- my, my, my tendency was to say, although halacha says that after dawn is not zu man shkiv, but for most of the world- Most of the population in that region, they're still sleeping for a few hours after this dawn at Hatzos. So it is manshiva lechola olam. So although halacha after dawn is not called manshiva, but colloquially it is manshiva. So I was relying on that. So I'm kind of, that's why I'm saying shoot yourself in the foot, but okay. Meanwhile, for the night shift fellow, um, I'm afraid he won't be able to say a mafil, uh, with a bracha other than Shabbos Friday night, which I probably, uh, sleeps a normal time. Okay. Let's move on to the next point. And that is someone asked me this past Shabbos that his wife had bought from supermarket some lettuce growing in a, in a, uh, some kind of bowl with water. So it grew just on water. So here's the old question. What is the bracha for hydroponically br- grown produce? So this is an old machloket going back alr- already probably 130 years ago because it's discussed in the Seichemed. And he talks about grain which grows in, uh, in, in, in planters which are not, not attached to the ground. It talks about whether you can

13:29 Speaker 1 be yoetz and mitzvah smatzah with grain which is not growing from the soil. So the bottom line is, I mean, here I've got here on the, on the screen, um, the different, the, the two, two schools of thought. The point is that because it's a sopik, do you go according to the species and therefore it's berfi hadama? Do you go according to the specimen, the article which you have in your hand, and therefore it's, did not grow from the ground, it's shehakol. So this is the question. B'di eved, if you said hadomo, you're yoetz. Lechatchilah, you should avoid the sopik brochas and therefore you, you, you'd say shehakol on it. If you said hadomo, you do not have to repeat, uh, a bracha. Right. Let's now go on to the next question. So here is a person who is hard of hearing and also getting on a little bit. And so he, uh, uses a hearing aid. He prefers not to make havdalah himself for whatever reason. For, and so he prefers to listen to havdalah. So the young man is making havdalah and the elder man is listening, but he's listening through a hearing aid. So now they're both fine of eilecha lamda shiyidin, and they're asking the question, "Am I yoetz havdalah by listening through a hearing aid?" This is the question. So we know that the Rebbe was, emphasized this point many, many times. And Reb Shlomo Zalman Oirbach, or, who's very much, who is I think one of the, uh, most

15:13 Speaker 1 eminent poskim in the areas of, of technology, of modern technology. Well, in, in his time, which was 20 years ago, whatever. And he takes the view, and the Rebbe says the same view, that a, a voice heard through a microphone, through a telephone, a radio, it's not a kol odom. It's not as if it's like a trumpet which has magnified the voice. It has taken the natural voice, changed it into electronic waves, and then reproduced it, br- brilliant reproduction. And so on the other hand, but it, that, what the, in other words, and the same thing with a hearing aid. That it's, you're not, it's not amplifying the voice. It is reproducing the voice on, w- more powerfully. And so very beautiful how Reb Shlomo Zalman's wording here. Mitsta'er ani. I'm, I'm very, I'm, I'm, um, unfortunate. I'm, I'm very upset to have to say this. That people who are osnum kavdol mishemoya, they have difficulty in hearing, and therefore they're using a microphone or telephone koton. Microphone or telephone, which basically we call a hearing aid. To, they're using a system, electronic system, to, to bring the sound closer to their ears, that they're not yoetz. They're not yoetz a shofar, not yoetz a megillah, et cetera. This is quoted in the Piskei Teshuvas, and he says the same thing for havdalah. Now, then he ac- says an interesting suggestion. He has an interesting suggestion. Tzorech lehavdil le'atzmoy. Either he makes havdalah himself, which is okay, o yoyim bealachash im havdalah. This I like.

17:02 Speaker 1 Um, that the, the elderly man is listening to havdalah with his hearing aid and all, and the younger fellow is making, uh, making a gofen. Amen. Behemersamim, besamim, ah, esh. He makes those other brochas himself. He doesn't have to be yoetz. Then it comes to the berachah samabdil. He'll say word for word. So Reuven is making havdalah with a cup of wine in his hand. Shimon, the elder one, is standing next to him, and he'll word, he'll say the words havdalah together. Where's the cup? The cup is in the other fellow's hand. He doesn't have to drink from it. He doesn't say, "Hamaveil pelah gofen." So here you're yoetz. You, and, and you can, you can say the berachah sam. Now, usually we don't do this, yeah? Usually, when we listen to havdalah, we listen to the whole berachah. But it is legitimate to say your own berachah along with the one making havdalah. Now, take a look. Here we have from the Reshimas HaYoyim, the Rebbe's, um, uh, memoirs of the Friediker Rebbe saying, the Rebbe in Jasen, the Rebbe Rashab, had an interesting midik. When it came to havdalah, he would listen to someone else most of the time. I think just out of Yom Ki- out of Motzei Yom Kippur, he made it himself. But generally, he m- he was listening to havdalah from someone el- else. He would just, he would, if the fellow made havdalah on wine, he'd say just, "Psukim k'neigeil she'asit." If the fellow is making Havdalah on

18:26 Speaker 1 beer, then he also said the Ha-brocha hamavdil. So the Rebbe Rashab was knowing sometimes to say the brocha hamavdil word for word with the one who's making Havdalah. So you have, you have backing there. And what's the difference between wine-- Havdalah on wine and wine-- Havdalah on beer? I'm just speculating now. And that is that wine, you will see in the Chasunah, it kind of, there's a stick of kavias. Perhaps because there's more kavias, there's more, um, focus with wine, therefore he joins to the brocha. Other drinks, including beer, perhaps is not so much a focus, doesn't g-create such a focus, and therefore is not so focused, therefore he said the brocha himself. Be that as it may, uh, that, that's another discussion why he made this distinction. But the idea of the elderly man saying the brocha hamavdil along with, uh, the one who's making Havdalah, that's perfectly fine. And, um, indeed, the Magen Avraham in Siman Kuf, I think Kuf Sad Heh Gimel. At any rate, Magen Avraham does talk about this idea that when other people are listening to a brocha, if they are worried that they don't understand because it's being said in Hebrew or because they worry they're not gonna be able to focus, so he says, "But toyv sheyomru im imilo bimilo." Let them say word for word. I think this is in, in the context of benching. Um, yes. Kuf Behe is in benching. "Nefi she'i efsharaham velishmoya." Say word for word with the mevorach because it's difficult

20:04 Speaker 1 to focus. "Vechein bekiddush vehavdalah." So also vekidush vehavdalah, you can be-- you can listen... Sorry. I-instead of listening, say it word for word, and this way you're yotz without any question. So the hard of hearing person will say the words and, yeah. Now, what do they do about shofar? No simple solution. And possibly, though, there is a difference between... I've never been there, Baruch Hashem. But possibly, but the hard of hearing, there may be a difference between hearing speech, words, and hearing just sound. But, uh, lchaim, they would have to listen to have, um-- to want to be yotz the shofar, they'd have to listen to the shofar without a hearing aid. And that's what Rabbi Zalman is saying very clearly over here. So, let's move on. Okay. So being that we are in the-- towards the end of a year of Shmita, so what happens if a person forgot to make a prozbul? So the question was, a person who's a Yoreh Sh'ma and he has not made a prozbul. Now, the question is, it's good that we're discussing it now. Once it's past Rosh Hashanah, it's gonna be more of an issue because that's when, uh, the full Shmita Tzofim, um, comes in. Whereas now, in the year of Shmita itself, there's two aspects of Shmita. There's-- uh, in, in with money. One is whether you're allowed to charge. The other one is whether you have to-- if the person offers you, whether you have to waive the debt. Um, I think in

21:48 Speaker 1 the year of Shmita, you're not mechuyav to waive the debt. You just, um, shouldn't charge. And the year after, then you're not allowed to... Then you, you, you'd have to waive the debt and you're not allowed to charge. Okay. So meanwhile, um, let's say the question is this year or next year, and the fellow hasn't made a prozbul. The-- Is he now-- Does he have to waive the debt, or could he ask for the money? So here's a, a very interesting piece in the Alter Rebbe, Shulchan Aruch, in Choshen Mishpat, Hilchot Hazza'ar. He says, "Nowadays," this is two hundred years ago, "Lo naga b'prozbul midin is elul." That it's not customary to make a prozbul. And I'm probably missing a word here. "Yesh sh'nostu ta'am l'midiv loima." Now, those who explain away the not doing a prozbul. "Shekiva shenaga kein ligvois kol choiv velo prozbul achar hashmitzvah." Since it was standard practice that people would collect a debt after Shmita. "V'ha-love v'idei hamizan," the borrower knew that the lender would come collecting his money after Shmita. "Hareizi kehilo hisno imo hamalveh v'sha'as halva'ah." As if there had been an agreement at the moment of the loan. "Al manas shelo yashmit ha-love choiv gezera olam v'chin b'shmitzvah." As if the love had committed. I know I have the rights to claim that the debt is waived. I am committing not to waive the debt, not to claim my ability to have the debt waived. He's, he's kind of-- He's, um, how you say? He's, he's, he's,

23:33 Speaker 1 uh, he's committed not to, to, to, to exercise that right. "She nimsa shechiyav atzmo b'moment shelo chiyav b'torah." So this commitment, understood commitment of the l-borrower, that he will pay even though he doesn't have to pay. So you are allowed to com-- allowed to oblige yourself to a debt beyond what the Torah obliges you. "She t'noye kayam." He hasn't... In other words, there's a, there's a dis-- uh, there's a, a concept called masna m'shakasa b'torah, to say that the Torah gives me, uh, gives me a certain right, and I'm saying that, that I shouldn't have that right or the other way around. Here, he's not saying that Shmita shouldn't work. He's saying that I will not exercise my right to, or a waiver, and as a result, I'm committing to pay. So that, that, that's legitimate. Now, "Avo klah geshema yihtzal yachmol atzmo," he loses prozbul. Although there is that explanation. But Yoreh Sh'ma should make a prozbul. It's, uh, not a big deal, easy to deal with, and he explains how to do it. So now, here's the question. Since nowadays it's standard to make a prozbul, can you now come and say, "Well, there's a whole explanation that the Alter Rebbe says, since people don't make a prozbul, it's kehilo hisno. But people nowadays do make a prozbul. So then, and then the, does Yoreh Sh'ma have the rights, uh, I mean, does Yoreh Sh'ma have to waive the debt? Or can he say, "Oh, even though I did not make a prozbul,

25:09 Speaker 1 I can rely on the first approach." And that makes it-- It's harder because nowadays, the c-prozbul is so cal-- po-popular. So then the Kohen that pulls the carpet from underneath the, uh, Hetter in the beginning of the Sivan. That's the question. So I'm coming back to my, um, good friend, Rab Uri Ganzfried, which I mentioned last-- quoted last week. And he makes here an interesting difference between whether our lender is in-- whether the, well, lender and the borrower are in Chutz La'aretz or in Eretz Yisrael. And so he brings here, um, he brings here from the Terumas Hadeshen, Rabbi Shlomo Isserlein, who lived about five hundred years ago, who writes the following. Shmita nowadays is Derabbanan. And the Shmita of, Shmita of Karka is Derabbanan. Shmita of money is associated with the Shmita of land. So it follows, says the Terumas Hadeshen, that that only applies in regions which are nearby Eretz Yisrael, where Shmitas, um, Karka-- Shmitas Karka is kind of also is kind of in the, in the mindset. And therefore, Shmitas Kesafim applies there. But further away, since Shmitas Karka is, is irrelevant, therefore Shmitas Kesafim is also irrelevant. So here we have one shita saying that in the areas which are further away from Eretz Yisrael, countries which are further away, the concept of Shmitas Kesafim doesn't apply. So that's the Terumas Hadeshen, very, uh, prominent posek. Um, which actually I have a little bit of a question on this, whether i-in Europe, where we've got so much food being imported

27:02 Speaker 1 from Eretz Yisrael, does that under, does that turn, change, change back to say that we are like nearby because we got, got so much imports, imports from Eretz Yisrael? Okay. That's one, um, that's one avenue to differentiate between Eretz Yisrael, Chutz La'aretz and further away, further away countries we could rely on the Terumas Hadeshen that Shmitas Kesafim does not apply. Then we have another approach. The Aruch HaShulchan. The Aruch HaShulchan says an interesting point. He says that the, in the, how do you say, the, uh, upholding Shmitas Kesafim is contingent on the prozbul being applicable. He then says that prozbul means you entrust your debts to the best and to collect. That best and do not, and don't, don't have the power to collect debts. So the concept of prozbul really in cl-- in the pa-- in the world, in the areas, countries where the best they do not have the power to collect debts, the whole prozbul is not really genuine, not really effective. So therefore, since the prozbul isn't, isn't defective, the Shmitas Kesafim would, would not, would not have been introduced. So that's, that's the approach of the Aruch HaShulchan. So these are various arguments to say that if you didn't do a prozbul, so then, you know, the Terumas Hadeshen says Shmitas Kesafim doesn't apply in, in, in far, far away from Eretz Yisrael. And the Aruch HaShulchan says that prozbul doesn't apply, therefore Shmitas Kesafim doesn't apply. So these are all bedieved. Um, so your Ish-- What I answered you

28:42 Speaker 1 is actually the question was from Eretz Yisrael. I don't know. Your Ish Hamayim should be waiving the debt. Um, I apologize. Should not be charging the debt. Um, on the other hand, um, to say that because the concept of prozbul, uh, wasn't done, I mean, I didn't, I mean, I didn't-- One could still be, uh, collecting the debt, and that's what we're seeing here. Okay, let's move on. Um, here we go. Let's see whether it's gonna work.

29:14 Speaker 2 All right. So this gate is the only area where a break in the perimeter of the property can exist. So the question is, if it's opened by someone coming in by foot during Shabbat, does that create a potential Eruv problem for the back of the house if anyone is carrying anything to an outdoor table?

29:33 Speaker 1 Okay. Here's-- That's the question. So you have, um... So now I feel, uh, accomplished. I managed to put in a video into the, um, into the, uh, uh, PowerPoint.

29:44 Speaker 2 All right. So this gate-

29:45 Speaker 1 Oh. Okay. Now I don't know how to switch it off. Okay, good. Let's move on. Okay. So I-- Here's the question. If you have a gap in your fence more than ten amas, that's called, um, that's equivalent to Parets B'Miluim, as if you had the whole wall down. And if your whole wall is down, so you're not allowed to carry in your front yard. Just learned a Mishnah t-this morning in Bava Kamma. If your front yard and the whole front wall came down, Parets B'Miluim, you're not allowed to carry there. So now if you have a break of ten amas, it's as if there's no wall. So now here's the question. I've got these ma-massive gates. Actually, I told him if it's less than fifteen feet, it's not a problem, which, prob-for Baruch Hashem it was less than fifteen. But if it's, let's say, twenty feet, a very wide gate. So here's the question. Whilst the gates are closed, so then, all right, you have a Hetzer. If you open the gates, do the gates work even whilst they're open? That's my question. And my, my argument and my rationalization is... Hang on a second. If I put two poles and a wire across, yeah, problem solved. Why? Tur Hasafas. Tur Hasafas is like a wall. So Tur Hasafas, two poles and a wire, is gonna be considered like a solid wall. And I got these massive gates which are on, on hinges. I, I can, I can swing them back. They were. Five minutes

31:06 Speaker 1 ago, they were closed. That doesn't count as a, a, as a wall. I find it difficult to, to, uh, to, uh, accept that. But I c- I, I searched, and if anyone can find something about this, I'm, you know, happy to listen. Um, but meanwhile, process is that I'm learning Hilchot Sukka. Wonder why. And so now, learning in about the wall. Now, in Eretz Yisrael, it's very, very popular. People have balconies where they have wall-- the balcony is enclosed with what they call trissim, these, uh, shutters, kind of, um, sliding, sliding panels. What would happen if somehow, and it could be here also, a lot of people have their sukkah, is they've got patio doors at the back of the house, and that's one of the walls of the sukkah. So let's say that, that door is crucial for your sukkah. In other words, it's not the, it's not the fourth wall, it's the third wall. If you open those doors completely wide, completely open, you don't have a third wall for your sukkah. So does that sukkah, when you open those doors, is your sukkah still valid? So, unfortunately, the consensus seems to be that it's not valid. And they're saying because you have no wall, um, because you rolled the, the, the door open, you know, sliding the other way, you don't have a wall. I have found one sympathizer to my, um, argument, and that's the Shut Kinyan Torah, and he says that since there is a delev gemara with a mashkiov,

32:41 Speaker 1 the whole-- there's a proper door here. It's a doiven gemara even when the door is open. So he's, he's the, uh, he's the minority, but he takes the view a door is a wall even whilst it's open. But the other... But, um, so according to him, we wouldn't have a problem with our, uh, you know, with our sukkah, with our, um, a, a roof with the doors open. Um, but others disagree, and they're taking the view that when the doors are sli- sli- sl- sl- slided? Slid? Slidden? Forgotten. Um, have been slided to the side, you don't have a wall, and your sukkah falls. Okay. Nevertheless, if you slide them back in place, okay, let's... Now we're finished with the, with the . We've seen that I don't have a source for it. I see here in the sukkah, they're saying, the one opinion says that the doors are a wall even when they're open. Uh, others disagree. So, and I don't know for Shabbos. Coming back to the sukkah, um, because it is relevant. People do have this, this shaila. So, um, what this Piskei, Piskei Psahim is bringing, very, very interesting. That you are allowed to open and close those sh- uh, those, um, sliding doors on Chol Hamoed. But he says on Yom Tov or Shabbos, you wouldn't be allowed to open or close them because you're making the sukkah. Now, he already preempts the question. You are allowed to open and close the roof of the sukkah, which in Yiddish is

34:19 Speaker 1 called a shlak, uh, and we call it a dach, different de- different parts of Europe. Um, and this part of Europe we call it the roof. And, um, so you are allowed to open and close the roof of the sukkah. So why should opening and closing the walls be different to opening and closing the roof? I'm not convinced that they are right in the way they're, they're paskening, but there is a difference here. The roof over the schach is still like this. You have a sukkah. Now, of course, it has something, an outside factor which is disqualifying it, which is the plastic roof. So it's a door, so you're allowed to open and close. But it's not making the-- It's, it's taking away a psul of the sukkah, but it's not creating the building of the sukkah as such. It's, it's kashering it, but not creating the building somehow. By contrast, with the sliding door, which is the wall of the sukkah, what they're ta- saying is you are building your sukkah. By closing those doors, by drawing them shut, you are building your sukkah, and you're not allowed to build a sukkah on Shabbos and Yom Tov. I'm not so convinced because the, um, the argument in Siman tof, reish, vav about opening and closing the roof is it's like the door of a house. Like, close the door. I'm making a wall. I'm closing the door. Because it's on hinges, that's what-- the way doors are made, to open and close. Therefore, I

35:48 Speaker 1 would-- I'm, my-- more inclined to say the same would be with open, closing those, those shutters. But as you see, the, um, I am, at the moment, I'm in the minority, at least in the current, uh, publications. Okay. Um, patio doors. Rav Ari is saying patio doors would have a lintel. Lintels do not make sukkahs. I just learned that today. A tzura shel Pesach is not good enough for a wall of a sukkah. You need to have panels. Right. Right. Let's move on. Can opening roof be opened on Shabbos? Uh, as far as I understand, yes. That's a more, more... Because the Rambam is saying that, um, it's, it's because it's just like opening a door. Okay. Um, perhaps someone can, can tell me a bit more about this later. This is question seven. Someone asked me that he has been called up as a witness in court, and he's expected to, whatever functions is, he asked if... He's on oath, and he's asking does he swear by a Tanakh or does he affirm? And I did a little bit of snooping around, and I see that affirmation is accepted for people who don't want to swear. And generally, a Yid would, would have, would avoid swearing and prefer to affirm instead. Um, I just wanted to share with you this interesting in Rambam now. We're learning Hilchot Shevuot. And there are some very, very strong words about shevu'a. Um, the shevu'a is somehow associated with a curse. Um, it has here towards the end,

37:34 Speaker 1 um, it, it-- There, there is the idea if a person swears and he's swearing falsely, he's bringing a, a curse upon himself. There's an understanding that you're putting your faith, you're putting yourself into this, uh, into this commitment. I remember I had my, my driving instructor, uh, was a Yiddish boy. He used to keep on saying... Middle of a shiur. Call me a-after 20 minutes. Bye. Um, he would alw- be saying, "May God be my judge," or something. Um, and when he wanted to, you know, co- you know, uh, reassure me that what he's saying is the truth. It's such a, such a language and we don't-- You, you know, we're careful. We're very careful about that. And the reason why, well, we see here the expression that when, uh, the Aibishter gave the, um, said, "Lo sisraf," the third of the Ten Commandments, do not bear Hashem's name in vain, in oath, so the whole world is shaking. Uh, you know, myself, I'm, I'm confident. Uh, let's say I make an oath to be... an oath of allegiance to, to, uh, to the country. Really? I never do anything a little bit even, you know, a little, uh, tiny sliver of something which is may not be totally full loyalty. And, you know, you, you, you're, you, you have to be careful. There may be something tiny, some tiny thing which you're not, not totally true about this. And therefore, we, we, we prefer to avoid, um, taking an oath because of this, the

39:13 Speaker 1 extreme severity of an oath. And, and, and we see here even that it brings upon, um, punishment not only as a fa-false oath, not only on the, on the violator himself, can bring upon others also. It's, it's such a heavy, uh, inyen, a thing of, of swearing. So from a Yiden, um, generally will avoid taking an oath and will choose to affirm in other, um... And I, I don't know what the procedure for affirmation in court, but, um, I would imagine that you don't need to hold a Tanakh to do that. Um, I know that in Eitz HaZorul when you become a Chavvei Knesset, there is something about taking an oath. And Rav Waldenberg in, I think, in HaTorah V'HaMaddinah has, has written extensively about that. But that wasn't the question I was asked, so I'm gonna go on to the next one. Okay. So what's-

40:04 Speaker 2 And it doesn't work in the Knesset.

40:06 Speaker 1 Pardon?

40:08 Speaker 2 I said them swearing an oath in the Knesset doesn't work. I was trying... Sorry, I was trying to make a bad joke.

40:14 Speaker 1 Okay. Um, so here someone asked me, "What's the story about water being left overnight in, in, uh, in metal containers?" So the source of the story is a Gemara and the Gemara in Nida daf yud zayin. And Shimai and Reish Lakish is saying five things which are ca- can, can cause a person, uh, harm, chas v'shalom. Talking about, um, garlic or onion or eggs which have been peeled and left overnight. Then we have one who drinks water. Sorry, "Hamashah mashkin mezugin," one who drinks blended drinks. Some people think of blended, they think already of a scotch already. I know. Um, one of blended drinks, uh, which have been left overnight. And the-- Then we have one who sp- sleeps overnight in the cemetery. And then you have... So he has a few things. There seems to be more than five things. But meanwhile, we have here that one who drinks water, "Mashkin mezugin she'ovar aleihem halayla." So then that's, that's considered a danger and we avoid having drinks which are left overnight. So now this is brought. It's-- There's a similar in Kuftor Zain, I think, in Yoreh Deah called, "Hilchos a-sarkona," um, various foods, et cetera, which are sarkona, but it doesn't bring this. Pichat Nosh there does bring this and the Alter Rebbe in Cheshimi Shua brings this. "Vechein lo yishta mashkin mezugin," do not drink blended drinks. "She'ovar aleihem halayla acharei shenimzak bemaim," which have been left overnight after having been diluted with water. "Vehu shel lo nu bechalimat ches or klei

42:14 Speaker 1 neser." This is only if they were left in metal containers or klei neser I think refers to clay or something. Then here's, here's the bomber. "Ve'eizeh lo im ha'maim atzmot she'ovar aleihem halayla bechalimat..." Here, the Alter Rebbe throws in a bracket and we know the brackets were in yellow which the Alter Rebbe was mechadesh. It doesn't necessarily... I mean, it's a well-known thing. He's wanted to review it. But it's things which he introduced which are not so, um, well, how do you say, substantiated from earlier sources. If diluted drinks with water is a issue of being left overnight, how much more so water left overnight? For sure is gonna be a problem. So to have water left overnight in a metal container is a problem. Oh. So now until the Alter Rebbe came, you could say, "Mashkin mezugin." Okay. You have every, every Yiddish house has got a chaisik, um, and you have a, a, a samovar or whatever. You have a... And many of them are metal. So you have water which has been left overnight. I've got a little news, a little bit of news for you. That the water which you take out on the tap every morning has also spent the night in the pipes, and the pipes are also made of metal, uh, copper or whatever. So it's also ... So it's all very well when you used to go to the well, sorry for the pun, and with the bucket, and you draw water, and you bring it home,

43:44 Speaker 1 and a wooden bucket or whatever the buckets were made of. But, uh, nowadays, all of our water's left overnight in metal. I heard that the late Rav Malo, alav ha-shalom, would not drink Coke from cans because it's been left overnight in metal. Uh, okay. And so we really, uh, he, Alter Rebbe said, I mean, he says, "That's for sure. It's ... So there was in Yerushalayim, there was someone called Rav Dovid Shapira, a brilliant Yeah. Goan. Um, he, he wr- he wrote a Sefer called Bnei Tzion. One of his... I'm not gonna go into it now, but he has about the Kabbalah Ta'ariya about the, the dateline. He's got a, uh, a, such a novel, uh, solution to the, uh, where the Jewish da- Halakha dateline is. So he's a brilliant man, and he, uh, I'm not sure which year he passed away, but he, he, he corresponds with the Rebbe a little bit in the early years. And he asked this question, he, um, "Well, how do we deal with it?" Alter Rebbe says, "I have a problem with, with Yeah. ... , water left overnight in metal." Um, he tries to make some corrections, whatever, and the Rebbe writes to him, "I don't know whether we need to go through all the various excuses which have been given. And the clearest answer is, we have a rule that if there's something which is granted that Chaza"l say is dangerous, but it's standard, m- people all, all over are using it, then we're going

45:16 Speaker 1 to say, 'Hashem protects the fools.'" And the Tzemach Tzedek says, which the Rebbe refers to, Tzemach Tzedek Yeah. ... even those who know that the Gemara says that it's dangerous, they can also rely on the that Hashem protects the fools, and therefore, they can also join the fools and enjoy, enjoy that part of life. Um, and so then he goes, says, "Since, since it's a Inyan Sguli, after all, we're talking here about something which is more a, uh, spiritual perhaps, uh, issue. So we can say that since , since..." And the Rebbe seems to be saying that the whole thing has become obsolete. Since , you've got millions of people around the world who are drinking water which is left overnight in Klei Matzchas, and they, um, it looks like the whole, the whole thing Inyan has, uh, has, the whole danger has become obsolete. And therefore, that can also rely on this. And he says, "Look at the Tzemach Tzedek over there, um, that even the can rely on the once it's been applied." Let's come back to the, some of the questions which you have put in the chat. Um, so, so I've been told the following. Pinches, thank you. You used to have to take an oath if you want, uh, and, or if you wanted to, you have to explain to the jud- judge that you had a religious objection to an oath. It changes a number of years ago, and you can simply affirm. Thank you. Um, they're asking about

47:00 Speaker 1 the Bris Mila in the Midbar. Okay. We'll have to think about that separately. Let's move on. Point nine. So here, a young lady has become a Baalas Teshuva, and, um, but she has a tattoo on her arm or whatever. Is there a Chirur? Her Mashpia asked me whether there's a Chirur for her. Is there obligation to remove the tattoo? So interestingly, the, this quest I mentioned before, the Yeah. ... he also has a discussion about this question, and he goes into whole interesting lamdas. How do you remove a tattoo? And there may be other ways, but one simple way would be to put another tattoo on top of the old tattoo. So let's say there's a tattoo. The, the re- the story which he is dealing with, and it's interesting, the same story is in the Minchas Yitzchok. I da- obviously, it's the same question was sent to various Poskim, was about a fellow who had been in the American Army, so probably about 60 years ago, and he had made a tattoo on his upper arm of a woman in a, un, uh, tzniut position. Uh, um, uh, picture. And now his question is, can he put, uh, his Tefillin on the, on the tattoo? Then, uh, of course, the, well, one of the things with, a solution would be to remove the tattoo. But to remove the tattoo means, a tattoo means you're writing on your skin. Writing with permanent way. Okay. So what are you gonna do? You're going to write with

48:43 Speaker 1 another ink. So I don't know if it works, but let's say you have a tattoo is black ink. Let's say you can make it now a, a skin color writing on the same place, and that will obliterate the tattoo. So here comes the whole question, is, are you allowed to make another tattoo to remove the first tattoo? Is that not called making another tattoo? So we had this, I think, a couple of weeks ago. It came up about the, yeah, so I'm talking about the microblading with the eyebrows. Now, those who say that the whole issue of, of tattooing is only if it's writing letters. But if it's just pi- um, even pictures, certainly just color, would not be a problem. Um, in addition, if you remember when we spoke about microblading, that the tattoo is mutilating. To rectify, to restore, is not included in the issue of a tattoo. And therefore, I feel that, um, there's, as, on the one hand, there's no obligation. I couldn't find anywhere, and as far as I know, that's the common, uh, Psak. There's no obligation, Halakha, to remove a tattoo. On the other hand, if you do want to, and you want to use, let's say, um, and this is my own invention, yeah? I'm gonna paten- patent it soon. To use skin-colored ink to, to take away a tattoo, I don't see, uh, uh, that to be a problem. Um, as I say, it's not, it's not writing, and also it's a, a repair rather than

50:17 Speaker 1 a mutilation, therefore it's okay. Let's go on. Okay. Well, so last week I mentioned about esrogim from, from Eretz Yisrael, and someone had asked me about this, and I told him, "Better don't get from Eretz Yisrael, get from, uh, Italy, whatever." But then this, this week, another shliach somewhere in Europe is asking me. He says that apparently, uh, uh, Israeli esrogim are much cheaper, and he wants to be able to give to, uh, Yidden or sell them. I don't know if it's cheaper. It's gonna be obviously being able to reach to more people. Um, right. So, um, I, um, I stand corrected. T- tattoos may be removed with laser, thank you. Um, and therefore, then for sure there's no problem of, of, of removing it. You're not, you're not mechuyav to. I still remain with that. You're not mechuyav to remove. You're not obliged to, but, uh, yeah. That, that, that, that could be done. No, no, no question. All right, so let's come back to esrogim. So now, here is the question. Um, is there any emphasis of sending back the esrogim back to the Eretz Yisrael after Yom Tov? So I want to... Uh, uh, I've, I've heard this before. Let's take a look what's going on here. So this is from Piskei Teshuvos actually, in the Dinim of Esrog is Siman Taf Resh Mem Tes. Taking out esrogim to Chutz La'aretz, one or two, Ya'ashelokel, especially if they're being brought to Eretz Yisrael afterwards. So now he brings over a few Litvish

51:48 Speaker 1 Poskim. The Orchos Rabbeinu, it says about the, um, from, from Chazon Ish, et cetera, um, who did, who, um... He said that they could take esrogim to Chutz La'aretz, but right after Yom Tov they should be eaten, because there's a time called Zman Habir. There's a time by which there's no esrogim out in the wild, and by then you're not allowed to hold on to, um, to the, to, to that produce since it's not available in the wild. So he says, so long as you eat the esrogim before they become obsolete in the wild, then that, that s-solves the problem. He did not require to bring them back to Eretz Yisrael. Then he brings from a letter of the, the, um, Chovas Ma'aneg from, uh, um, no. From a guy from, from Yerushalayim. He brings from Rav Ovadia the Brisker. Uh, he asked to send him a esrog to Chutz La'aretz. Um, and he says it's better to bring it back to Eretz Yisrael. And then he brings from Mah- Mishnah Yosef, "Ma tovim l'hachzir esrog ach ach." Um, then he brings from Rashbam Zalman. Um, he was machmir. He did not send, uh, esrog. He had people who would send esrogim every year, but shmittah, he did not send esrogim to Chutz La'aretz. So, all right. What I'm seeing here is the idea of bringing it back to Eretz Yisrael so that you can put it out in the wild for the animals in Eretz Yisrael does not seem to be a chiyuv at

53:12 Speaker 1 all. It seems to be a hidur. Yeah, a hidur. It's, uh, uh, on a, on a c- certainly on a commercial level, I think that's unreasonable. On the other hand, it seems to be inc- uh, that it would be preferable that the esrog should be, uh, eaten before, uh, Zman Habir. That means shortly after, after Succos. Um, okay. Yeah. Um, that's, that's what I can say. Someone asked, "What I... And what about i- if, if the, you're gonna give the esrogim to people who are not going to eat them?" Well, listen. But then on the other hand, you, uh... This is a very important point. Lo achlu bolei lehefset. To just throw the esrog into the bin, that would not be allowed until the esrog has become inedible, so you have to hold onto it till it becomes inedible. Finally, we've got here, um, we're talking about... So last week, we were talking about a mikvah, about it building a, a barrier around a rooftop. So one of our listeners who was also frustrated with the poor reception last week, and, um, Baruch Hashem, uh, it's, uh, it's, uh, I think it's behaving better today. Um, so she mentions to me, she listened to the recording and, um, I had not mentioned about making a bracha on building the mikvah. So if you are, uh, one of those people who, uh, um, get your hands dirty and you like doing, you know, cement by yourself, and you build the mikvah yourself, yes, you should be

54:39 Speaker 1 able to make a bracha. I don't remember. It's just something to look into, whether you make the bracha when you put the first brick of the tenth kochim or when you do the top tenth koch- top of the tenth kochim. Um, chovy, it has to be just before the end, which is before you complete it, right? Before you complete the tenth tefach, and that's when you make the bracha. Um, then about saying Shehecheyanu. Do you say Shehecheyanu? So, do you say Shehecheyanu the first time you put on tefillin, you say Shehecheyanu? So, here's an interesting exchange. You had, in Toronto, you had a rabbi by the name of Rabbi Gedalia Felder, and he had published several sfatim, a series of sfatim, under the name Besurei Yeshua. Now, when the Rebbe came out in Taf Shin Lamed, give or approximately, about the whole mitzvah neshech of the children of girls putting on, um, um, lighting a candle, there was a whole discussion at the time with the contemporary Poskim. So there's a correspondence between the Rebbe and Rav Felder. And so now, the top is the Rebbe's letter, and the bottom is, is, uh, Rav Felder. So the Rebbe writes, "You had mentioned to me about the She- Shehecheyanu the first time round, first time the child lights. So you already mentioned there are various opinions about this. For example, um..." And he-- the Rebbe says, "In your own sefer, Volume Alef, about when a chitzis, first time you put on tefillin." Do you make a

56:07 Speaker 1 Shehecheyanu? A tallis is easier because a tallis is a begad. See, the first time a new tallis, you make a Shehecheyanu. But the first time you put on a, a tefillin, apparently you wouldn't say Shehecheyanu. Let's say the first time you do a shirita, the first time you do a kisei ha'adam. So it's not so poshet whether you make a bracha, because it's not necessarily sh- so time related. And so the Rebbe writes, uh, in addition to the Sefer which you referred to, also the Sefer HaMa'aseh B'chol HaMachnis, Siman Chof Beis, which is the end of Hilchot Tzitzit, also has a lot of sefarim about this, uh, talk about this question. Uh, and although, here's an interesting point, the Temat Zedek in Biskra Dinim has got a page about, uh, Shehecheyanu, and he says, "Sofek Shehecheyanu is not a problem." He talks there in the Moshiach on, about Megillah, saying Shehecheyanu about M- Megillah reading by day in addition to having said by night. So the Alter Rebbe in Tzitzit says, "You shouldn't say a bracha by day," and Temat Zedek say, "You should." And he takes this view, he brings this view of the Eliyahu Rabba that Shehecheyanu, if you're happy, so there's not a bracha levatalah. So the Rebbe says, "Nevertheless, I didn't want to rely on that to say that a girl, the first time she lights a candle, should say Shehecheyanu," because the con- the common meaning is the first time you put on tefillin, you don't make a bracha Shehecheyanu.

57:26 Speaker 1 The Rebbe said, "I mentioned in passing," and I remember, uh, at the, around being present at the time. Not, obviously, Lamed Gimel was a little bit early for me. But, um, I remember the Rebbe speak- speaking about this. It was a few years later. And he said that, um, to avoid this question, a little girl, either she starts lighting her candle on Yom Tov, and therefore she's saying Shehecheyanu because of the Yom Tov in any case, or you buy her a new garment. You buy a new cradle, and therefore, in part of when she starts lighting her candle, she'll also have a new garment, and that will take away the, the she'ilah. Um, right. Just, I'm just gonna finish off that what's been, uh, b- before the shiur, we had a short discussion about, uh, Pri Chadash for Rosh Hashanah. But just a dovora poshet. If you don't have a Pri Chadash or Beged Chadash, you still say Shehecheyanu at Kiddush regardless, and at, uh, Tekiahs on the second day, uh, regardless. The, uh, the Beged Chadash and the Pri Chadash is just as an extra. Meanwhile, I wish you a, a good evening, a guten Shabbos, and guten Chodesh. Whatever. Chag sameach. Chag. Chag, guten Shabbos.