תצוה תשפ״ג

00:07 Speaker 1 A good shabbos and welcome to the shiur tonight, uh, on Motzei Shabbos Parashat Zachor. I dedicate this shiur to Hatomim Shnia Zalman HaCohen Ben Eli Sheva should have a refua shleima. Someone asked me this past week or two weeks ago, not necessarily for this year, what would happen when you have a Shabbos, Rosh Chodesh, and Shmini? Same question should be Shabbos, Rosh Chodesh, which is Parashat HaChodesh. Similar question should be when you have Hanukkah, Shabbos, um, Rosh Chodesh Hanukkah, when, when you take out three seforim. And as I say there that normally the sefer for Rosh Chodesh is the second and the sefer for, for, uh, Shmini, Hanukkah, HaChodesh, that is third. That is, of course, but that is not in accordance with the rule of Todah, Todah, HaChodesh, and the one which is more frequent takes priority. And therefore, the Parashat HaChodesh is the more frequent, therefore that's the first sefer Torah. The second sefer Torah is for, uh, Rosh Chodesh, which is twelve times a year or eleven times a year because you have to take off, uh, Rosh Hashanah, perhaps. It doesn't matter. And then we have the third, uh, sefer Torah will be used for the specific... What happened is that they took out the-- after the six aliyot in the, in the first sefer Torah, they took the second sefer Torah, and it was open to Shmini, and they started reading Shmini. And then, well, they did realize in the middle, doesn't... Well, that's one thing. Let's say they did

01:56 Speaker 1 or they didn't, but whatever. And then there's two issues. Do they finish reading Shmini or do they have to switch in the middle? Secondly is what happens to the haftarah. Do you-- Is the haftarah, haftarah of Shmini or is the haftarah, the haftarah of, um, of, of Rosh-- of Shabbos Rosh Chodesh, Hashavah Miketsi? And here, I was very surprised, but this is, this is how, uh, this, this story happened with the Noidei b'Yehuda. So in the Noidei b'Yehuda, in Chelek Beis, or Achaim, Siman Yod Alef, he tells this story. He had a yeshiva and the bochurim made this mistake, and they came in the middle of Krias-- uh, middle of Parashat Shmini. One of the bochurim realized it was a mistake, and they asked him what to do, and he told them two things. Number one, they should finish what they're doing, finish Parashat Shmini and the Berakhah Ahar-- um, afterwards. Then switch to, I guess, to say, Kaddish, and then to switch to the hap-- the, the sefer for Rosh Chodesh. And he told them then they should read the haftarah of Shabbos Rosh Chodesh and miss out the haftarah of Shabbos, of Shabbos Shmini. Actually, I went through the Teshuvah of Rab-- of, uh, the Noidei b'Yehuda, and I was really blown away by his, uh, the ga'onus which he comes, which are the bekius, et cetera. For example, from where do you know that you should finish off Shmini and not switch to Rosh Chodesh? And he brings a raya from Korban

03:32 Speaker 1 Pesach, which was done before Korban Tamid, and whether you should do the Zevikah Chadash and et cetera, Haktrarah. He brings from, from a rather remote, uh, sources to prove that point. And then the second point, he also goes through very strong, convincing arguments that the, um, that r-really in, in, in the, the haftarah of-- really one, one should be saying the haftarah of the, the most-- the last reading. So let's just read this, how it's brought in Mishneh Brurah in Taf Resh Peh Heh. And let's read it inside. "Im achar shegomar parashat haShabbos," finish the six reading-- six aliyot in the Shabbos sefer Torah, then by mistake took the sefer Torah which was rolled for Shmini and made a berakhah and began reading, and then they realized in the middle. So you should finish off Parashat Shmini with the attendant berakhahs, berakhah. And then the third sefer Torah, which should have been the second one, will be read for Rosh Chodesh, and for maf-- haftarah to read Hashavah Miketsi because the haftarah always reflects the topic of the most recent-- the la-- the last reading. He says that would be in Shmini, that would be d- also in Parashat HaChodesh. If, again, if it's you got... Whenever you have three se-- sefer Torah, this mistake could happen, and that's the guidance. And he quotes here the Shaarei Fraim. Shaarei Fraim is a specialist, say, for Krias HaTorah. He himself, he was a contemporary of the Tzemach Tzedek, he himself has some reservations, but he says,

05:23 Speaker 1 "K'vara, uh, it's okay." I mean, actually, though, going through, although I was-- at first I was skeptical, but when I went through the, the, uh, Noidei b'Yehuda's Teshuvot, I was really very, very impressed with, very convinced by his, his arguments. Let's move on to the next question. Okay, Talmidim asked me this question: Is there an issue of sitting-- Is there a problem of sitting on a table? I think last week we discussed about the dimensions of the shulchan in the Beis Hamikdash with the equivalent to the shir of, uh, forty seah. I'm not gonna go through that again. But that brought to the-- possibly this question of shulchan doy mal hamizbeiach. What you have over here- Is a Sefer called Minhag Yisrael Torah by someone called Levi, very much a contemporary. And he says it's common, common, a common saying you're not allowed to sit on a table because a table resembles a Mizbeach. Yes, that which a, the Shulchan is similar Mizbeach is written in Poskim, Ma'amar, et cetera. Um, he, he shows various sources that, yes, we have the idea of the equivalence of a Shulchan to the Mizbeach, but this idea of not sitting on a table, yeah, so Shulchan to Mizbeach is, yes, that's true, but about therefore, you should not sit on the table. That is written in Sefer Chasidim in the context if there's food on the table. But it doesn't talk about a table where you're eating. Then it is the, "Ke-maimar ha'olam," like the common saying. That

06:58 Speaker 1 is in the Sefer Yosef Ometz. Now, the Sefer Yosef Ometz, so for a few hundred years ago, it's Minhag Frankfurt. So it's written by the, uh, I think, Rabbeinu Shlish or something, uh, who was a, uh... He write-- He records the Minhagei Frankfurt or something like that, and he writes there in the name of Sefer Chasidim. But actually, in the Sefer Chasidim, as, as he's just noted, it just says, uh, not to sit on a table with seforim. But not to the... Not sitting on a table bechalal is not recorded there. The lower quote, the lower quote here is from Sefer Ha-Yere'im. Wait, well, this is also from the Sefer Yosef Ometz, and he quotes from Sefer Chasidim, and he's-- Then he quotes from Rabbeinu Yonah, "Don't kill a, a bug, a louse at the table because the table is domeh le mizbeach." All right, so, so there is something about it. Uh, the, the, the, the... I mean, if he's, if he has told me he's, he hasn't found it, I probably won't find it, a proper source for it either. There is, there is that says it's a Minhag HaOlam, but to say it's got a mokhe'em Poskim, that I cannot say. Someone's asking if it's meyukhes for seforim, a table is meyukhes for seforim. Okay, I mean, um, I don't have a halakhah about that. I know that the, on the Bima, it is sure. We've gone through this before, that it, no, it's not appropriate to put a hat on the

08:24 Speaker 1 Bima, to put, um, things like which are... Maybe the pushkes and seforim people put on the Bima. We've, we've gone through this before. But to put other mundane things, they don't belong on the Bima. Okay, let's move on. But that's because it's meyukhes for Kriyat HaTorah, which is obviously a greater kedushah than regular seforim. Right. Um, so the Sefer Chasidim is saying when there are seforim. Uh, oh, sorry, sorry. Uh-huh. You're pointing out that, "Sakol leshev al shulchan shemiyukhes seforim." Uh-huh. Okay, I didn't notice that. All right. Well, we'll look it up again another time. Um, you're saying that the Sefer, he's saying not nec- not necessarily because there are seforim present, which that's the Din Shulchan Aruch. But the Sefer Chasidim is saying if it's meyukhes seforim, it's designated for seforim, then it's got a greater kedushah. Okay, I accept that. Fine. Let's move on. So someone sent me a, uh, asked me a question about opening such a, um, ca- a cot, playpen. Whether you're allowed to open such a thing on Shabbos. First he asked me, I didn't know what it was exactly. Wasn't, you know, I wasn't sure whether what he's describing is what I had in my mind. I asked him to send me a picture also with the intent I'd be able to have a little bit of show and tell for the shiur tonight. And so there we are. Um, so I said that you are allowed to open such a thing on the Shabbos. And then we're

09:48 Speaker 1 gonna read this Halokhe Shulchan Aruch, and that is in the dinim of bonai, et cetera, on Shabbos. Talks here about if it's a temporary gag, a temporary roof, if you have no intent to make an ohel. It says like this: If you, if it's already from before Shabbos, and there was already this roof, but it was folded, then you are allowed to open it. It's like, therefore, he says, a, a ch- a chair, a folding chair. So you open it up, and it, and it has like a, a, a le- a leather seat. He thinks of like a-- You think about a fisherman's chair. So he says that you're allowed to open them on Shabbos, even if it has mechitzas beneath, because it doesn't resemble a ohel, making an ohel, because you're not doing anything. Because it's all been made already. The, the, the elements here have all been already. It's just they've been, uh, folded. But if you're unfolding, that's okay. Then he talks about setting up a chuppah. I'm not sure exactly what he means by this. Perhaps you have a chuppah already on, on poles and just opening it. I think we've gone through this before, that in HaYom Yom it says something about the Rebbe Rashab with the, um, uh, when he was appointed to the, to the Chevra Kadisha, and they, they read him with a canopy or something. That there, there, there used to be a minhag of... Oh, no, sorry, I'm mixing, mixing up. It says that we

11:23 Speaker 1 don't spread over a canopy over the children for Kol HaNoarim. And there were, there were places where they would make a canopy for the Chasun Torah and Chasun Breshis, and they took the view that it's okay to spread open, open a chuppah, and our minhag is not to do so because of the chashash of creating ohel. So that's possibly what's being referred to over here. Then he talks about a stender, which you have fixed to the wall, about lifting it up, and so it's creating a shelter underneath, even if there were mechitzas. So again, he says that's okay. So basically, this is a well-known thing. It's a mashal, a folding table. You are allowed to open up a folding table on Shabbos. You don't have to worry about creating an ohel. And the same thing is with this playpen or whatever you call it, a cot, crib, whatever. Let's move on. Okay. So here is, I had a whole, a whole journey over the past week or so. And that is, I had a question when I, I did actually discuss it, I think, last year. When people buy Mishlach Manos online. So a credit card, either they pay by credit card. Now, there is a halacha that Moes Enon Koines, that you're not Koine of stuff with money. You're Koine when you, when you lift it up, but you can't be Koine when you just p- um, pay for it. Therefore, when you order from a, a, a shop, or with a telephone, it

12:58 Speaker 1 doesn't matter, online or difference, you ask them to deliver Shlach Manos on your behalf to, to this and this address. So how did those Shlach Manos become yours? It hasn't become yours, so you haven't given it. That was my problem. So I've discussed this in the past about the question of receiving, uh, order, Amazon deliveries on Shabbos, that it doesn't become yours until it crosses over your threshold. So therefore, you're being Koine on Shabbos. So how you'll have to accept a delivery on Shabbos is a problem of being Koine on Shabbos. And I went through this before, you, I'm sure some of you remember, that the answer, one answer is that there is something called a Kinyan, which is binding for the level of Mishapara. The person enters an agreement and, and retracts from that agreement, so and then there is a, a, uh, kind of Challah of sorts that whoever punished, they Derhamable, then a Froga should be pu- should punish the one who doesn't keep his word. Once you put down the money, so then you're committed, that if you retract, there's a, you, then there's the Mishapara. So the Rivosh says that for a Din Rabbonon, that is called enough of a Kinyan. That's in the context of Ribbis. By, by putting down money, it's already yours, at least for this Din Rabbonon. The Alter Rebbe brings this also in Hichas Shabbos. And therefore, that's my, uh, answer. Why is it okay to order stuff and it's going to deliver, be delivered

14:32 Speaker 1 on Shabbos? Not that you plan to exactly, but if it deliver on Shabbos, why is it not a problem of Kinyan? Because it was paid for already. So for a Din Rabbonon of, of purchasing a Shabbos, so you can rely on that the Kinyan was done when the money was paid. So I, I was, this Tuesday morning, I said this over. I was invited to speak at Torah Way in Golders Green, and I said this whole Chochma, that since Lachmanis is a Din Rabbonon, therefore, having paid the money with a credit card, that's already considered yours for Din Rabbonon. So an hour later, I get a, a, a, uh, an, a message from one of the Balabatim who are present, and he says, "I've got a Kashya." He's just learning Mishnahs, Eiruvin. And there we have, there is a, a, a Mishnah. So what's the story? The Mishnah is that the, that for an Eiruv, to make an Eiruv in a Chatzir. So you've got ten people, ten members of the Eiruv, ten, ten members of the Chatzir. So we take a loaf of bread or a box of matzah and make a Kinyan on behalf of all the people. But let's say here's the case that they were going to buy a loaf of bread from the, this, this baker, this shop. So a fellow goes into the shop, and he says, "You know they're going to pick up a loaf of bread for the Eiruv in my, in my, in my Chatzir. I'm

15:52 Speaker 1 giving you twenty pence, whatever. I'm giving you a Mor. Now, that should be my part in the Eiruv." So Rabbeza said, "That's okay." Chacham says, "No. Lo Zachu LeMoriso. Because Ein Moris Koines. You put down money, it doesn't mean the bread is yours." So here we have that you don't, that the Eiruv is invalid, even though he paid money, and if he'll retract, there's a whole Mishapara story if you want, and still is not Koine of the Eiruv. Now, Eiruv is a Din Rabbonon. So therefore, I, my Chochma was saying that Kinyan for Mishapara will alleviate the question of, um, you know, it's called, called a Kinyan. But here we see that for Eiruv, it doesn't work. Kinyan for Mishapara doesn't work for Eiruv. So the same thing, it shouldn't work for, for, for, for, for, for Mishlach Manos. So if so, how, how is, it's back to the question. If I pay for Mishlach Manos online, Moris Einon Koines, so how do those Manos become mine? That's, that's way back to the question. But then, actually, one of the people, uh, at the Shir and Torah Waves asked a question. "From where do you know that there's a Chiyuv to own the Mishlach Manos? Who says you have to own it? The main thing is that the recipient should receive. Who says there's a Din, you know, there's a Din of Locham, with, you know, with Esrig, et cetera. We have mitzvahs where you have to own. Where does it say you have to

17:14 Speaker 1 own the Mishlach Manos?" So before I got to that, there's, there is a very interesting Halacha in, in, in, it's, uh, Breis in Kid, or something, in, in, in Kidushin. Um, let's read this carefully. A man goes over to a woman. Reuven goes over to the, to a woman, and he says, "Here is a hundred pounds. And with this hundred pounds, you should be Mekudeshes to Shimon." So Reuven gave Sh- gave the woman money, and she has now created a bond of Kidushin to Shimon. How did that work? So he says, "There's a Din of Eved Kaneini." Eved Kaneini, you've got this slave, and he doesn't have the ability to, he doesn't own anything. So how is he able to be r- how is it possible for him to be redeemed? So the Eved Kaneini is owned by Shimon. Comes along Reuven to Shimon, and he gives him a hundred pounds, and he, or a thousand pounds, and he says, "I'm giving this- To, to, um, to redeem the Evod. So it's as if the Evod Kenaini had received the money and paid it. So let's read this carefully. Just like Evod Kenaini, he-- when he is redeemed, he didn't pay anything, and yet he is acquitted. He is, he is set, set free. So here too, when we have Sh- Reuben gave the money to the woman, and Shimon, Shimon didn't cost-- it didn't cost Shimon anything, but it was given to the woman on behalf of Shimon. Therefore, he has, he, it, he,

18:59 Speaker 1 he has acquired her as his wife when it was given on his behalf. So when it was given on his behalf, even though Shimon did not touch that hundred, um, that money, but it was-- Reuben gave it on his behalf to, to the lady, so she becomes his wife. So similarly, I was thinking on the same lines, when the, the, when the greengrocer, whatever, or the, the, the shopkeeper delivers a shalach manos on my behalf, so then it becomes as if I gave it, even though I know I wasn't koainei. It still becomes as if I, I, I gave. Fine. So then someone then pointed out that actually this is a, this idea that the shalach manos, this is gonna get a bit simpler. Let's read. This is from a Sefer called Yesodei Simachos, I think. Um, no. Something, something called Yeshurun. Um, sorry. S- okay. Um, why I'm getting c-confused. There's, there-- I think it may be Yesodei Simachos. This is from someone called Reb Gedalia Felder, who, who's got a lot of sefarim which are called Yeshurun, Yesodei Yeshurun, et cetera. And this is a book of his where he has Piskeim in English. At the back, he's got the notes, the sources in Hebrew. So let's read the English carefully. When sending shalach manos for another individual, it is sufficient... So what does that mean? I live in London. I call up someone in, in Manchester, and I say, "Could you deliver shalach manos to your neighbor on my behalf?" Yeah. So

20:47 Speaker 1 you're sending shalach manos for another individual. It is sufficient that the person be notified that the shalach manos has been sent for him. The receiving party must be aware of the identity of the sender. But it doesn't-- So in other words, there's no need for, for a kinyan here. Let's read, read carefully in the notes. This stands for, I guess, Ken Shomati Memoren Shlit"a. It's, it's referred to Rabbeinu Moshe Feinstein. So I-- HaYotz'u Achiyyu. Because the chiyuv of shalach manos is to create friendship between these people. So you're giving gifts of food. And there's two opinions in, in, in Poskim, whether the purpose of shalach manos is to create friendship or it-- or is to enhance the seudas Purim, or it could be both. So therefore, it doesn't-- there's-- it's not imperative that the shalach manos have to be owned by the one who's giving it. There's no need for kinyan. So when I g- ask you to deliver on my behalf shalach manos to your neighbor, and you take it off your shelf, you don't have to do a kinyan on my behalf. It doesn't need to be mine. The, the ikar is that the recipient receives it through my bidding, through my, my cause, and, and knows that and appreciates that. So that's what the shalach manos is about. It doesn't-- there's no need that there has to be mamash ownership. Therefore, that throws away the whole question from the, the Chatachilah. There's, there's no chiyuv to actually own the shalach manos before

22:18 Speaker 1 you give it. Um, in, in-- Oh, sorry. Here it is. Moiadei Yeshurun. So then in the, the newer edition of the Piskei Teshuvas, he, he quotes this, that there's no need to have a kinyan of shalach manos. Although he himself has his own problems with it, but I think that's-- I'm, I'm quite convinced that it's a, a valid point that there's no chiyuv of ownership of shalach manos. Just... Obviously, you're not yoitzeh with st-stolen shalach manos. We're talking here that y- it's done all, all that's in mitzvah bor ba'aveira. We're talking about it's legitimate stuff, but there, there's no need for a technical kinyan. And for that matter, you don't have to tell your-- When you bring shalach manos, you don't say, "Oh, make a kinyan hagbah." You ever seen people bring shalach manos, "Make sure you make a hagbah tefach." It's unheard of. Uh, even if it's not in, in his house, you meet him in shul, "Oh, pick it up a tefach." It's, it's not done. It's not necessary. Right. Um, right. So now, I was then g-- this kind of brought out in my mind, I was concerned, what happens with the... comes to, comes Sukkos. The first day of Sukkos, we're all anxious. How do we do shala-- How do we do Arba Minim with the child? We want to give a child a, a lulav, and if he takes the lulav, he can't give it back. So we know that a child can be koain and can't be makneh. So

23:50 Speaker 1 if so, how can you-- how can a child do shalach manos? Now, it's not so clear that there's a chiyuv. In Poskim, it's not so clear that there's a chiyuv, a kinyan of shalach manos. Arguably, it's, uh, only once they are independent, um, as far as food arrangements, et cetera. But certainly, the Rebbe encouraged, many, many times you can see in the sichos, the Rebbe encouraged that children should be encouraged to give shalach manos. Just recently, there was a whole, um, thing, uh, in the haskashas last week, how the Rebbe reached out to the schools in Eretz Yisrael. Obviously, through a middleman, but they-- that the schools in Eretz Yisrael, they should encourage that the children should give shalach manos. And obviously, there was also chashmun, that through the children to reach to the parents. But there is a, there is certainly a, a well-known thing that children are encouraged. And so I was concerned, how does the child give shalach manos when he can't give things away? So here we have in Mishne Torah, Choshen Mishpat, which says the following. "A child up till the six years of age cannot give away to someone else. From six years onwards until he becomes an adult, if he understands a little bit about buying and selling." You've seen, um-- You can-- You've checked him up, and they, they are, they are, how do you say, they're with it. They understand what's going on. And then he says, "If he's more than 10 years old," by default

25:24 Speaker 1 we're gonna assume, unless he's got some mental problem. But at, uh, after the age of 10, for sure a child understands, you know, that s- selling means, you know, or giving it away means it's not gonna be yours anymore. So once the child is over the age, the age of six or more and understands that giving away is, is, is, is final, so then if they sell and, or they buy, et cetera, or they're giving you a gift, it is valid, whether it's a d- um, a large amount or a small amount, et cetera. This is, this idea that a child is able to give is a Takkanas Sefarim. We're talking about portable articles. We're not talking about land. All right. So that's as much as is relevant to our discussion. And therefore, the, the answer is very simple. When it comes to, that really min haTorah, a child does not have the ability to give away, to be makneh, to give a gift. And therefore, when it comes to Sukkos with the Arba Minim, which is a din min haTorah of, of, of, then the child is not able to give it back, and therefore we have that problem. What do we do about lulav, um, uh, with, with children after, uh, et cetera, when, uh, and the whole, whole, the whole, uh, to-do? By contrast, when it comes to shalach manos, because shalach manos is a din derabonon, therefore we can rely on the fact that Takkanas Sefarim is that a child over

26:57 Speaker 1 six is able to give. Therefore, the, the Matanos La'evyonim, uh, sh- sh- shalach manos is, is valid. It's not a problem. You can then now ask, what about a younger child? Well, a younger child under the age of, age of six is arguably not subject to the din of Chinuch. Um, we do, we, uh, so we do still do mitzvahs with them, but, uh, the fact that it's, it's not technically yoitzer is not such a problem. Let's, let's say when is a child under the age of six, it's more the parents are giving the other child the shalach manos through the child, through their child, and, uh, it's all, well, it's all part of the simcha of Purim, but it's not tech- actually technically yoitzer the mitzvah shalach manos. Okay, not such a problem. Right. So I think we've answered the question of, um, those questions. Someone's asking that Sukkos is only the first day. Some say the second day also, but I'm, I was just really dealing with the question of shalach manos in reflection to what we're so particular about when it comes to s- um, to Sukkos, to the f- to the Arba Minim. Okay. So here we have someone was asking about whether it would be okay to s- pause during the Megillah to translate, et cetera, to explain what's going on. So what you have here is actually from a sefer called Nesiv Misteashlichas from yours truly. That's Chelek Beis, which was, it was addressed there. So here the question

28:30 Speaker 1 is, I'm gonna read it. In order to keep the people's attention to the M- to the reading of the Megillah, are you allowed to... Am I allowed to pause between one chapter and the next to explain in, you know, the local language what's g- going on here? So the answer, there are Poskim who objected to the reading of the Megillah in Hebrew, and then to read the whole Megillah again in, in Laz. But they, even they, it doesn't mean that absolutely not. Um, that's, that's to read the whole Megillah in one stretch, I guess, in another language, and perhaps people will, will rely on that. But to, to read and, uh, inter- interrupt during the Megillah in order to explain it, that's, that's, that's, that's valid. Now, a point in the notes over there is that in the time of the Mishnah, and actually today, it's even the, in Yemeni communities, they still, they still do this. It would translate as we're reading the Torah or the Half Torah, it would be translated in Aramaic. In, in, in Torah, it's pasuk, pasuk. I think in Aramai- in Half Torah, it's three pasukim, I think. At any rate, there is the idea of translating. Why is it that Megillah, we don't have such a Takkanah? The, the simple answer would be that it says in the Megillah, it says in the Gemara, sorry, That you could read the Megillah, the Chatrichah. You can read it for people who don't understand Hebrew. You could read it in

30:01 Speaker 1 their language. And perhaps because there is that option of reading the Megillah in another language, therefore, there's no need to make a translation, um, a simultaneous translation, so to speak, because they're... If they're really not able to understand the Megillah in, in English, I'm sorry, in, in, in the original, there is, uh, room to read the whole thing in, in, in another language. The reason this is not done, as we all know, no one does the reading of Megillah in English, et cetera, and one of the concerns for doing so is the following. If you would want to read the Megillah in English, does the Megillah have to be written on parchment? And that's gonna be a massive, uh, you know, undertaking to get, to get a sofer to write a Megillah in English on parchment because it, it seems to be that this is one of the requirements. Actually, it was during COVID where I had this conversation, possibly that there is room to say that it's, like, uh, the, the requirements of- Of, uh, the Megillah being written on defcon parchment, et cetera, would be not be applicable to, to, uh, other languages. And I was overruled and, and I mean, and I ad-admitted that it wasn't. I couldn't, I couldn't substan- I couldn't substantiate that. And therefore, it remains the Megillah, if it's gonna be read in another langua-- read in other languages, it would have to be written on parchment, uh, by hand. All of that is, et cetera, et cetera,

31:35 Speaker 1 imp-impractical. Right. Mendel is pointing out, lulav on the other days, the cotton is not being machnis, lending, but sho-which that's right. Right. It is, uh, yeah, that's true. The-- It's only the first two, two days possibly where the But now, in the Mishne Berura, in Taf Resh Tzadik Daled, so he quotes from the Ritvo that two prutas is enough for Matanos L'evyonim. But then the Piskei Teshuvas quotes that many Poskim disagree with this, and they say it should be a Matan Chashuva. Enough for the oni to be able to purchase a seudah which has enough food, lema-- the volume of three Rebbeim. So it means they're gonna be able to buy a, a, a roll or something. It doesn't have to be a, a fa-a fancy fleishig seudah. But, uh, how much would it cost to buy, uh, a, a, a few slices of bread? So that, that would be the she-erd of, of, of Matanos L'evyonim. So, uh, we do fifty pence, whatever it may be, but something that you'd be able to bu-buy a, a, at least a poor man's meal. Right. Someone is asking a question here. If reading in a school mit Yidden and Goyim, but you want to fulfill duty of Yidden and Jewish teachers, can you explain be-- in between chapters in English? The answer is basically yes. You are allowed to. Let's go back to that. Um, the answer is that reading between, between chapters or between... Yeah, it's g- The only, the only, um, downside of that

34:12 Speaker 1 it's gonna take so much longer. But yes, if that's going to... It's, it's okay to do that. To, to, to, to stop and then translate a little bit, that's okay. There are-- They've made videos or something with, with to be able to accompany the reading of the Megillah, which is another way of keeping people's attention. So like it's kind of parallel what you're reading. Okay. So now, someone asked me, uh, a couple of people recently asked me the same question. Clarity, what's the story about writing Beis, Beis Hey or, or Beis Samech Daled? So we're away from Purim and just regular stuff, regular shailas. And so here, I, I saw in my notes that in the Sichas which came out last year, no, two years ago. So at the back of the Sichas, I've mentioned a few times, there's letters of the Rebbe which he never published before, and they're published, uh, in the, in the back of the Sichas which come out on a weekly basis. So this is Parshas Tazria-Metzora, Taf Shin Pey Alef. And so there's two letters published there. The one letter I'm reading here. So the Rebbe writes to the person who's asking some... I don't remember what, what he asked about. The Rebbe says that the most important thing, uh, in Kimatova mitzvahs, um, main thing is to do Kimatova mitzvahs Repayoh. And also to increase Mizman Mizman. And even though every year has got a Chazakah, that they're certainly doing mitzvahs and increasing Mizman Mizman. But in addition

35:46 Speaker 1 to the Zepsak Din, that when you c- when you have a doubt, if you can verify, you have an obligation to verify. The main thing, says the Rebbe, I noticed that on your letters, it doesn't start with Baruch Hashem, community of Israel. In other words, the Rebbe sees in the fact he didn't write Baruch Hashem as a diminishing in standards of Yiddishkeit. And the community of Israel writing Baruch Hashem is based upon Tonna Dvei Eliyahu. Of Ikker, that this is a widespread Minich. And then the Rebbe continues to complain what, to, to this person, why I haven't seen you in the list of the people doing Mivtzoim, et cetera, in your, in your, uh, area. Meanwhile, the Rebbe does give the fellow a telling off, how come you didn't write Ba-Baruch Hashem, community of Israel, and that is based upon Tonna Dvei Eliyahu. So before we go further, Baruch Hashem, we know means, "Blessed is Hashem." What does Beis Samech Daled stand for? It's Be'se'yat Hashem, with the help of Hashem. In Hebrew, you'd write, Be'ezras Hashem. These are actually very different expressions. Baruch Hashem is an acknowledgment. Beis Samech, Beis Samech Daled is, is asking. Or perhaps also, you, you, you stay, you know, with, with the-- what you're doing is with the help of Hashem. It doesn't have the word blessing there. So now this is, this is, uh, very, very important here in, in this question of Beis He or Beis HaMekh Dalet. Now, what's this-- where, where is it written in

37:16 Speaker 1 the Tanya Veyaho? I, I must tell you, when this came out, I, I was-- I started browsing Tanya Veyaho on, uh, going through the whole Sefer trying to find it, and, um, I didn't find it explicitly. But here it does say in Tanya Veyaho the following, that the Torah begins with the letter Beis, because Beis stands for Bracha. So, Bre- it starts with a Beis because Beis stands for Bracha. From this is learned, derived the of Poskim B'bracha, that you start off with Bracha. Um, then it gives some further references. But this is, this is what the, the, the, the Tanya Veyaho is saying, that you start off with Bracha. And therefore, this is the sig-significance of the beginning of a letter. You're, you're sharing some news or whatever it may be, but you start off with Po-Poskim B'bracha. So, Baruch Hashem, I said a Bracha. When you say Beis HaMekh Dalet, you haven't started off with a Bracha. Now, I'm not going to deny that there are memoriam of the Rabbaim which start off with Beis HaMekh Dalet. And you g- so it, it makes sense perhaps you're launching into a project and you say that it should be with Hatzlacha, so you write Beis HaMekh Dalet. Um, as I'm speaking now, I'm thinking of the, the Tenuiyim Purim Hasanah or a Kasubah, I don't remember now which, which, starts off with, with Beis Hashem Yisbarich. So, you're launching into a project of a Hasanah or a married life, so you say it should

38:53 Speaker 1 be with the help of Hashem. So, you're invoking Hashem's bl- uh, that's, that's fine. But this idea when you're, when you're, uh, communicating with someone in a letter, to start off with a Bracha, that's, that's, that what-- that's what the Beis He will do. Then, then, then there's a second letter. Sivas Beis He, Oy Beis. Now, this is more, um, uh, clearly addressing the difference between the two. The first one just said, "Why didn't you write Beis He?" But here he's a-addressing the difference between Beis He and Beis HaMekh Dalet. Is it necessary... First of all, he says, Beis He or Beis HaMekh Dalet. Is it necessary whenever you write or only when it's an important thing? And is it better to write Beis HaMekh Dalet? So first of all, the Rebbe writes, the moket or the source of writing Beis He is in the Tanya Veyaho. That's the general . And all right, it's a-- I think the Rebbe says it's a generic . Beis can be Bracha. There may be a varied, various . Then you ask about whether Beis He is better than Beis HaMekh Dalet. So, the Rebbe says, "No, there's no advantage of Beis HaMekh Dalet over Beis He." that the work of Gdol Yisroel, the Gdol Yisroel would write Beis He. What's better? Why, why is Baruch Beis, uh, B'siat HaShemayah, why should that be better? Why should B's-- with the help of heaven better than with the help of Hashem, of the name, translated literally. Then the Rebbe

40:32 Speaker 1 has another thing, and that is that the, there are those who con- are concerned that Baruch Hashem is, He is the letter of Hashem's name, and then if the letter then ends up in the, in the rubbish, so then it's a disgrace to Hashem's name. Actually, that's the, uh, the... And there's a letter of the Ragachover to that effect, that Beis He is-- he worried that it'll, it's, uh, it'll, you know, it'll... it may go to waste in disgrace. So the Rebbe says, "Actually, think of where the H- the word Shamayim." The Rebbe's concern, that's actually got more Kedushas Hashem than the word Hashem. Hashem is simply the name. That is quite innocuous. When you say Shema, Shamayim, so you say Avinu Shebashamayim, et cetera. So when, let's say, in the context of Nedarim, if a person would say, "This is Kodesh Lashemayim," I believe it will have, it will have Kedusha, because Shamayim is understood as it's, um, uh, referring to Hashem. Whereas Hashem means the name. It's, but it's, it's, it's less pointed and therefore less of a worry of, of being put in, in, in, uh, shame, et cetera. Uh, sorry, of not being put to shame. Um, my understanding is that actually, but Beis He, as far as our minhag is, it does not have a Kedusha. It's okay to, to, um, put it in the bin. Um, I believe that's what the Olamim are doing. They take, uh... If you write letters and afterwards they end in the bin and

42:04 Speaker 1 we're not so worried about. Although, I think we've gone through this once before, there was a story that a Shliach made a flyer. What's the difference is-- What's, like, a flyer or something. Is Purim like Halloween? Or what's the difference between Purim and Halloween? And the Rebbe was very upset with the, with the question, the way it was put on the, on the fl- on the, um, flyer, the notice. And the Rebbe told, he expressed his, you know, his, his not a ha-happy with at all. And he told him that he'd take all those notices comparing or not comparing, um, um, Purim to Halloween and take them all and destroy them, but cut off the Beis He before doing all of that. So, he had to take all these thousand posters and cut off the corners where the Beis He. But does that mean the Rebbe holds that Beis He has a, has a... Or perhaps he saw it as a, as a tikkun. This fellow had, had, uh, overstepped, uh, kind of the between Kedusha and the opposite, so to go to the extreme as a tikkun, possibly. But, uh, right. Um- Someone is pointing out that the Beis of Bereshis does not mean beracha, just that the Beis is a symbol to beracha. So then, Beis Samech Daled, uh, starts with a Beis. Okay, fine. Um, no, all right. We, we can say that, but we, we have the Tanit VeEliyahu which says Poskim B'beracha. We have an instruction. Y-you-- The fact that

43:36 Speaker 1 you have a Beis now, which is a rebit for-- Well, a Beis stands for, like, the Beis of Bereshis. The, the Tanit VeEliyahu is saying that the, that the, that the Torah begins with the choice of the word Bereshis, rather than another word, which could have started with an Alef, et cetera, in order to say the Poskim B'beracha. So we have a, we have a duty to be Poseach B'beracha. And with Beis Samech Daled, it has a Beis, but that's a rebit. It's not Poseach B'beracha. Okay. Um, someone's asking which is used, hmm, for a... I didn't fully get that one. Okay. Um, let's move on. So last week, we had this-- I, I shared with you a que-a question. Someone had asked why in the mention of Ki Kolei, Amim Elilim, in, in, uh, in Hoidu, why do we don't spit there? So, um, and I mentioned that the Rebbe had answered someone, and Rebbe-- when Rebbe Baumgarten was there, he said that in the middle of a pasuk, one shouldn't be mafsik to spit. But in, in passing, I men-mentioned about, uh, during Oleinu, which is said during Shemoneh Esreh, Rosh Hashanah, and Chazzan Shas of Yom Kippur, what do you do there about-- do you spit there when, when you've said, "Shehecheyanu," so I mentioned about putting it in, into a tissue. And, uh, actually, someone raised the question whether it-- whether that's, that is correct, and have you... He asked me, Rabbi Gordon, actually, he asked me, "Have you seen anyone

45:16 Speaker 1 doing that?" I said, "No, I haven't seen. That's true." Uh, when I remembered I had, I'd been preparing a tissue when I'm davening at the omit, but I haven't seen anyone making a point of it. And so let's look at the Halakha about that. Um, before reading this Halakha about spitting during davening, just Rabbi Naum Daris is, is asking about, is the conclusion that Boruch Hashem is preferable always? Certainly in letters, yeah. That's what we're seeing from the Rebbe. That when, when we write a letter, we start with Beis Hey, and you see that's, that's certainly Minichabad, that we, we start off with a Beis Hey. And now you know the reason for that is because we're Medayek to the union of Poskim B'beracha. Okay. So now we have here our Halakha in Shechinoroch, Simin Tzadok Zion. One who spits during davening is as if he's spitting in the presence of a king. Therefore, it is also to spit, uh, will-willingly, unless you are in a state of oines. And since you're forced, you see, or have something that's really bothering you. Because even Afi LeOime Betach Anunim She'acha Hatzfila, even if you're after the, the davening, it's, uh, an end of Shemoneh Esreh, I guess. So long as y- yeah, so long as you're having to step back, you're still in the mode of standing in before the king. If you do need to spit, now you shouldn't, it, um, um, bother you. Mutar say that you shouldn't bother you, and you should be

46:38 Speaker 1 able to continue davening. So if you've got, for some reason, you need to. And then he says, "If you do need to spit during davening, so then don't spit on the ground, but then absorb it in a, in a cloth, in a, in a tissue." So, so reading this now carefully, he's saying that actually it's not appropriate. If, if, if it was forced upon you, then you should absorb it in a cloth, in a tissue. But LeChachil, you shouldn't be spitting during, during davening. So, yeah, so I guess I, I stand corrected that Rosh Hashanah and Yom-- and, and Yom Kippur, you're in the middle of davening. So then there's a LeChachilah. So don't, don't, don't, uh, don't, don't spit. What should you do? All right. I guess perhaps if you want, you're sensitive, you can just swallow that bit of, uh, saliva and then go on with your, uh, . Um, what do we have here? Oh, next. So last week, we had this s-story about a tracker. A tracker sewn, sewn into a coat. And I'd said it's okay because it's to-- that it's there. It's become part of the garment. Someone did object to, to like that, uh, during the week. Okay, fine. But now someone about... Following on from that, so there are people who are, I say criminal, I don't mean whether they are not. It's not for me to judge. But for some reason, they are, um, they're let out on bail or something, but they have to wear

48:05 Speaker 1 a tracker on them. And so would they be allowed to go out to, to, um, out of the house on Shabbos? Could be a person who's autistic, and so it's important for their carers to keep track where they are. They shouldn't get lost. Alzheimer's sufferer. These are-- So this is a kind of tracker which would be on the person the whole time, I believe. Then there's another type of tr-- uh, tech-- similar question. A peop-- a person who has special medical needs. So they've got a bracelet of sorts which they would wear on them in case they are not con-- not conscious and can't tell their specific needs. So they have this bracelet which has their medical details. So would they be allowed to wear those, uh, when walking the streets on Shabbos? So let's deal with one thing at a time. So here we have Shechinoroch, Simin Shin Alef. It talks about a person who is a prisoner, and he has a sh- a shackle. He has a chain, chains on his, on his feet. So he is allowed to walk outside on Shabbos. Because they are, because they are with him the whole time, it's like a garment, and you don't have to worry that they'll fall off because they're probably put on very firm, that they, they shouldn't run away. So I suspect that the tracker for a criminal, I've never seen the-these trackers, these, um... But I would imagine they are similar, that they're worn the whole time. That makes it

49:37 Speaker 1 easier. Because it's something which is worn for the other criminal statistics, et cetera, worn the whole time, therefore it, it... that makes it like a malbush. The problem which is m-more of a, uh, concern is when, let's say, a person is in hospital, either as a patient or as a visitor, and they would, they would have a identity tag. And that's worn around the, the wrist, and that is not for long term. Would you be allowed to walk out in the street wearing such a tag? So this the Sefer Orchos Shabbos, and he says that this identity tag, identity bracelet, is not a garment, um, and it, it, it's not a garment, it's not an ornament, and he actually struggles. He struggles with giving us a heter. He says, "When you look about, see about this slave who's wearing a, a, a necklace to identify him, that's because he's wearing it the whole time." But, um, that's not... But here, this bracelet is only very... It's just for the short term. Therefore, arguably, it doesn't become a chelek of his body, so that does remain a problem. As I said, I've had this question about a person staying with a patient. So a patient himself is not gonna leave out of this hospital on Shabbos in any case. But if you have a, a, a relative who's there, and they need to go out across the street, whatever, and they, they need... About wearing this bracelet. So that does seem to be a problem, because

51:21 Speaker 1 that bracelet is just a piece of information they're carrying with them, and it, it, it, it's not a straightforward heter to, uh, be permitted to carry it. Um, I don't have... I didn't spend too much on the medical details, and that would p- possibly also depend. If it's the kind of thing they're wearing the whole time, then we've got this heter that it becomes a malbush. If it's something which they're wearing the whole time, and it's unlikely it'll fall off, if it's made, made well. But if it's something which they are likely to take off, well, then, all right. But if it's something which they're wearing the whole time, uh, it's unlikely to fall off, so then I think we can rely on this heter similar to the prisoner's tag, which is permitted. That's just one extra point which is not on your list of questions, but, uh, I wanted to share with you, and that is this coming week is Parshas Ki Tisa. And I'm sure you all remember that Rishon and Sheni are very long, and then the last five aliyas are shorter. And the reason for that allocation is because the story of the golden calf, of the Egel Hazahav, is in those parshas. And generally, when we give an aliyah to a person, we want it to be inspiring, and we don't want it to be, uh, an accusation to the person, that the person has got a fault which is addressed in that parshah, where we wouldn't give him an

52:54 Speaker 1 ali- we wouldn't deliberately give him an aliyah in that parshah. So the Egel Hazahav is an indictment on all the Yidden who participated in the Egel, with the exception of the co- of the Leviyim. And so there is a point of having the Parshat Egel being read, giving aliyah to a Levi, so it's not an indictment on the one who's having the aliyah. The question is, what would happen if there's no Kohen and you'd give the, a Levi the first parshah, but then the second parshah would be given to Yisroel? So then, actually, this is what we're seeing over here. That if there is no Kohen, this is from a Sefer called Luach Dover BeYitorei, I believe, from Rav Chayyei Ovad. But I've seen this in other sources. That if there is no Kohen, you should give a Levi from the beginning of the sidra until, until Shalishi, yeah? So you give him a very long aliyah. And in this way, the Parshat Egel is read by a Levi rather than by a, by a Yisroel. And then I just saw this today. It's an interestin- interesting, uh, observation. If there's no Kohen nor Levi, but there is a Ger Tzedek. So the Gerim, they n- they, they, they, they were not... They have no history of being involved personally in the Egel Hazahav. And therefore, in quotes here from Yitzchak Silberstein, that's another option of giving a Ger Tzedek. Which I'm, I'm, I'm actually-

54:26 Speaker 2 One, four.

54:27 Speaker 1 As I'm reading this, I'm not so convinced because there is something about being super sensitive to a Ger, not to re- remind them of their, of their, uh, lineage. And by q- saying, "Oh, we can give you because you're a Ger," that might have also a, a negative, uh, a negative, um, message. So I'm not sure whether that's a good idea. But, uh, meanwhile, just give your... If you, if you don't have a Kohen, you're shul. So then, uh, and you do have a Levi, so that's the one way of doing it, to give him an extra... If there are no Kohenim and no Leviyim, so then we, we just read the Torah. The Torah is, after all, given to ourself, to everyone. Um, all right. This is, here's a Purim question. If, uh, Haman was an Eved Canaanite, if he had been set free, would he have been mechuyav to hear the Megillah? As we know that Ha- Mordechai had in his shoe, he had a document that Haman was his slave, and that he would show it to Haman. But if he would, if M- Mordechai would have set him free, so, um, would he have to hear the Megillah? I guess yes. I've just mentioned today, my father-in-law, Shalem, would say how Avigdor, who was the one who, uh, Massud, who was the one who, the informer to the Russian government to cause the Alter Rebbe to be arrested. In his elder age, he became an alcoholic, and he would come to

56:00 Speaker 1 the, Yis-- the Yitzhak Sisleh fabricants, and he would say, "I'm the one who made you this Yom Tov, so give me all the alcohol." So I wish you a good, uh, a good Shavua and a felichem Purim, and a tablech mishtachtot mit kol tov.