בראשית תשפ״ד

00:04 A good shabbath and welcome to the Shir tonight. Motzei Shabbos Breishes. A gezunter winter and, um, start off with the dedication. It's been dedicated by Pinchas Rabin. Uh, mazel tov for your recent yom ha'letus on Zev Tishri. And l'chayim v'shana tova and, uh, in merit of Shneor Zalman Ben Sarah Shoshana amongst all the Yiddishe chayalim who are standing on guard for Am Yisrael in Eretz HaKodesh that they should all be safe and carry out their missions with safety and come home safely. And we should see ve'asata shalom be'aretz v'shavtem be'ein macharit. Let's go into our first question for today. And it's really not a halakha question, but it's something which has been on my mind a lot recently, um, about the whole creation of Adam and Chava, where you have two story-- two versions in the Gemara, whether it was-- whether Adam was created doi patufim, created two faces back to back, or that Chava was just a lower part of, of the body of Adam and then was separated and create-- formed into another, uh, body. Either way, the question, uh, begs is: Why did Hashem create the human species in this two-stage form, in addition to the two ta-stages of creating first of the body from-- often Min HaAdam, then the breathing into a spirit of life, which is also, I believe, unique for Min HaAdam. But the fact they created first the male or first the Adam, and then created-- then put a whole procedure of putting him to sleep and then

02:10 separating, creating. What was the purpose for that whole exercise? That's-- that was the question which bothered me. And what you have on the screen is from Rabbeinu Bechaye. Similar ideas also I see also in the Alshech, and they say the following, that other, other species, yes, there's a male and there's a female, but each one, let's say a cow eats grass and a bull eats grass, and they have children, they have offspring together, but they don't have a care for one another. There isn't that feeling of, of, of, of oneness between the pair of that species. And this was the achievement of this whole exercise, that to-- that the, the man should feel that his wife is part of him. She will feel that he is-- she is part-- he, he is part of her or whatever. They'll, they'll feel that one, that, that unity, a feeling that they're that unit, because originally they were one unit and that gives the, the human being that, the natural, uh, feeling of a, of a, of a, a feeling of oneness, of, of closeness in mind with their spouse. That's, that's the result of the fact that they were created Lechatchila physically as one unit. Let's move on. So someone asks me about the, uh... In many in, in Sefardish communities, after Maariv, before Aleinu, there is a Sh- Sh- Shir Hamalos. And he's asking, "Why don't, why don't we say it?" So... And he gives me a reference to the Rambam. This is as you can

04:15 see on the screen, it's in Perec Zain Halakhot Chesc. It's the last Halakha of, of, of Perec Zain. He talks about the Seder of Mincha and also about a bit of Tachnun after Mincha. And then he says, "But Tefilat So'erev ko rekriat Shema." Then you say the Berakha before and after, the respective Berakhas. "So mergul l'tefila," which is interesting. Let's, let's not go into that. "Anu stavsh ven'esre. Okh shiaslim yeshiv meat veyipoter. Vehameschanen achar. Tefilas Aravis harei ze meshubach." So he praises the idea of saying Meschanen, to say some supplication, some form of Tachnun after Maariv. In the Tour, in Siman, um, in Siman Reish Lamed Zain, talks about Maariv, and then he brings something similar. He's quoting from, I think, Rav Amram Gaon, and he writes there, "Bechos hav o'id Al Shem Rav Sholom, Rav Sar Sholom Gaon," the leaders of the Yeshiva in Bavel. Going back, uh, fifteen hundred years ago, they were known as the Gaonim. So in the most famous are probably Rav Saadia Gaon. But the... So Rav Amram is quoting Rav Sar Sholom Gaon. "Shem mutar lipel al apayim ulevakesh rachamim achar tefilat aravis." It is permitted to, whatever the word is, prostrate yourself after Maariv to... And, and to, to, um, Kochos, et cetera. Ayun metzivor. "Vechein ha'mineg ba'bayis..." Uh, "be'es haknesat--" It's cut off a bit. Um, "aravis kos me'erv shabbes." So we're seeing both in the Rambam- And in, both in the Rambam and in the, the Tur, the Ino saying Tachnun after Ma'ariv. So

06:17 my understanding is that this Minchas Vardim, to say, Yesha Malus after Ma'ariv is a form of Tachnun. It's not-- They don't put Nefilas Apayim, but it's, it's some kind of Bakashah. Which would then... And now, it's interesting because many of the Mekubalim Masardim and they, they, they bring this Mincha. They, uh-- Even Ashkenazim Yezderot also quite a lot of them are also saying this extra Mizmer after Shemoneh Esreh before Aleinu, because Yezderot, the Minchas Vardim seems to have been accepted by many Ashkenazim also in, in numerous areas. This is a separate discussion. Having said that, there is a concern about saying Nefila-- um, um, saying Tachnun at night. And the reason is because there's a time of Dinim and there's a time of Chessed and of Rachamim. And at night is a time of Dinim, and therefore it seems to be inappropriate to start challenging the Dinim at that time when they've kind of got their, I don't know, Chassid Shalti used the word free reign, but there's a certain... That's, that's, that's that time. Not to, not to interfere with that time. So this is the background to what we have here in Shulchan Aruch. This is on the Alter Rebbe's Shulchan Aruch in Siman Kuf Lamed Alef. So that's talking about Tachnun. Ein Anach Nefilas Apayim Balailo Mimtam Hayodu Al HaYodim. Anyone who knows the Alter Rebbe's language in the Shulchan Aruch, this is a euphemism for Al Pi Kabbalah. In the references they have to the Rekanati, Rebbe Nachum Rekanati, who was

08:08 a Mekubal. And so this is the... Not, not saying Nefilas Apayim, not to say Tachnun at night. Then he says, "Therefore, if Mincha..." Now, if Mincha spilled over Ad Halaylo, don't say Tachnun after Mincha. Then he says about skipping Avinu Malkeinu. Now, this is because in Nusach Ashkenaz, when Avinu Malkeinu is said, it is said before Tachnun. Therefore, he says, "If you have this dilemma, so then skip Avinu Malta- Avinu Malkeinu in order to be able to say, um, uh, Tachnun before nightfall." Then he goes on. Okay, so meanwhile, I just want to conclude this point. That my suspicion is that the reason why the Alter Rebbe does not bring this in the Siddur, although it is mentioned in some of the Siddur Ari Z"L, is because of this word of not saying Nefilas Apayim Balailo, not to say Tachnun Balailo. S- You know that the Ino Psukit DeZimra, the word Psukit DeZimra means verses of praise, but we also know that the Zimra becomes the notion of pruning. Sochalis, um, um, um, Lesismo, um, LeZamir Orit. This is brought in, uh, I'm sure it's brought in Kotateira, et cetera. The Ino of cutting off, cutting off the undesired, uh, undesirable extra growth. So there is a cutting off. This is the... Tehillim is a power, has a power to cut off undesirable growth. And that's, that's part of the Cheshbon, why we don't say Tehillim by night generally. I... Despite them saying that, BeEzras Hashem, towards the end of this year, if we have

09:55 time, we'll say a couple of Tehillim because it's an emergency Matzah, um, as an exception. But B'der Klal, we don't say Tehillim Balailo. This has all got to do with this, because Balailo, it's this, it's this man of, it's Shahas Tehdinim, and therefore, um, it's not the time to, to, to, to start cutting away. Now, I wanted to address here, KeVen De'os El HaYodon, since we're talking about this. What is the story about saying Tachnun after Shchiya? And I believe there's a, there's a perception that in Chabad, we hold that you can say Tachnun after Shchiya, so long as it's Ben HaShmashos. Now, I'm going to read this very carefully. , Says the Alter Rebbe here. This about not saying Nefilas Apayim Balailo is only Bevad HaLail, AvLo BeBen HaShmashos. But i- in during twilight, you can still say Tachnun. , now he's skipping from after Mincha. He's skipping now to Selichos in the morning. Yeah. Now, this is something if Chabad, we don't see it BeChlal. Um, but in Selichos, towards the end of Selichos, I'm sure Rabbi Gyalfi will confirm, that in their world, they put, put their head down at the end. , in Chabad, we don't do it. And he says there, Ein, it is in little words, in brackets. It has the, uh, the instructions, "Don't have Aleph Bet," because otherwise we would saying, we would be saying that part of the Nusach, Ein Lipail. So it's just instructions that we don't do Nefilas Apayim in Selichos. But here he

11:48 says, Minchas Ashkenaz. Now, just think for a second. The day Halacha begins from Alos Hashachar. This is interesting. The day ends by Tzeitzakachavim, and according to the Goonim, Tzeitzakachavim is some, uh, twenty-something minutes after sunset. The day begins at, at, at dawn, which is 72 plus minutes before sunrise. So it's not parallel. It's not symmetrical. The beginning of the day, the beginning of Yom, is from dawn. The end of day is, says the Kochovim, which is shortly after sunset, not 72 minutes after sunset. All right. Now, he says the Minchah is to say, to say Tachnun, lipa pniefi rosa pa'im ein selichos. Hoil vehu korav l'yom. Although it's not mamish day, but it's korav l'yom. Yesh noyagin lahali- laharich b'selichos ad nochin ha'yom. There are those who don't say Tachnun in Selichos whilst it's still dark, until it nochin ha'yom, until it's clearly day. Veyor nofel malpleim. And only then do they say Nefilas Apaim. So here we are seeing that there is a hesitation. Even though it's, you know it's after dawn, but you're not sure whether it's mamish or... So you don't, you don't... You wait with the Selichot. You know what? You wait, you wait with-- You stretch out the Selichot. So that the end of Selichot, where there is Nefilas Apaim, is when it's mamish clearly day. In the Sefer HaMinhogim, where it says, "Our Minchah of not to do Nefilas Apaim in Selichot gives a reference to this line over here, that we don't do Nefilas Apaim in Selichot because

13:55 of the concern of saying Selichot... I'm, I'm sorry. We don't hear me. Of doing Nefilas Apaim at night, after dawn, before sunrise. So, l'niyyas dayti. L'niyyas dayti, if you're concerned after dawn, but it's not mamish day, and you don't say Nefilas Apaim, how much more so you should be concerned by lilo after, after Shkiya, where-- because it's already, um, uh, it's already, you know, y-you're going into night. Yeah. So the, i-i... For the same reason why it says in Sefer HaMinhogim that we don't do Nefilas Apaim, um, i-in Selichot, that very same reason should say that we should not be saying Tachnun after Shkiya. So although the first opinion here is that it's okay to say Tachnun Shkiya, but I'm seeing that L'maisa, we are... That Minhogim is following the second opinion, that we are concerned to say Nefilas Apaim by Sof Ekha Lailo. So that should apply to our Mincha the same as, uh, as by, by Selichot. Okay, that's Maimon Hamusga. Um, Rav Yirmi is asking, is Vanas Dinim only until Chatzos Lailo? Probably more so. More, more until Chatzos, and that's why, uh, the Moshol's saying Tilim, et cetera, after Chatzos is okay. You're right. But po-possibly there may be Madregas in that, uh, in... Yeah. All right. Let's move on. So in Yona DeYom, unfortunately, Alsey DeHaYom, people are, uh, very anxious and, um, Baruch Hashem, I mean, uh, what ha- all the scares which happened on-- which were going around about Friday, Baruch Hashem, as we went through, um, Ruach

15:52 Ehad. Um, and as, as, uh, one person said, that their, their Kavona is to... The Kavona of the Tat Shekinah, Yimach Shemom, is to make people frightened, to, to demoralize. And we have to have the, uh, the strength not to, not to fall into that. Koponim, so it's a large city in Europe and the-- there's a Shliach there. So one of the Shlichim is a higher profile. He has a, a bodyguard. But this Shliach is not a Nat Madrega, so he doesn't have a bodyguard. But he was advised to carry with him a piece of, uh, either telephone or something in case he sees something, uh, happening, he should be able to call for help right away. It's on Shabbos. So of course, you could say stay home, but that's for sure not the Eitzah. And therefore, he's asking a question, is there a way that he's allowed to carry with him some piece of equipment? So this is an interesting, um, question. I've had this years ago also. And so when you have someone who's a Choleh, Rachmanul HaSlachin, who needs to have a medication in case they need it. So then a Choleh is allowed to do a Melacha DeRaitza Shelacha Yad. So therefore, a Choleh who, let's say, is dependent on, he has to have, uh, glucose in case they have a hypo. Um, so then they have a bit of glucose in, let's say, in a hat or inside their sleeve. And so then they can go in the street, and

17:33 in case they need, they have it with them. So that, that's, that's, you know... But that's because it's a Choleh. Then you have the people who are, let's say, Hatzalah, et cetera. They may be called for Pikuach Nefesh. Here, it's a bit different. Here's, uh, it's not a Hatzalah. Baruch Hashem, he's healthy. But just to be able to walk in the street to go to Shul. So can he ha- rely on the Hetter of carrying this phone Kelacha Yad? So very interesting Shuvah of Rabbeinu Moshe Feinstein, where he says... He was asked, uh, you can see the date, it's Tosh Lamates, yeah. The Hatzalah Chevre about carrying with them a walkie-talkie. No, the Emes is- You could tell the Hatzolah guys, "Listen, you're on duty, so you have to stay home near a phone. You mustn't leave the house." But he says, "If you'll do that, then you can expect that the numbers who will, uh, how you say, join Hatzolah will be dropped dramatically. No one wants to volunteer to be, uh, grounded for hours on end, even with a rota." So the Rebbe comes with a brilliant idea. He comes up and he says, "This, this walkie-talkie, to be a member of Hatzolah is a Hashivus. So like you have, um... You can have an ornament, a medal, which you're allowed to wear because that's an adornment of your persona. You're, you're a Hashivus person. You have to go around with a medal. So to walk around with a walkie-talkie, um, hey, it's

19:11 a, a member of Hatzolah, so that makes a Now, that's-- it's in- interesting. I don't know whether that is a practical solution nowadays because nowadays I don't think walkie-talkies are, are If it's a short walk from your house till the, to the shul, let's say, going from Rosh Chodesh to Rosh Chodesh without stopping Rosh Chodesh, that would be an Is Ad-Rabbonon. Then it would be Is Ad-Rabbonon Hilacha Yad. I don't know. I'm, I'm not sure how, how to work that out. Um, I was told that the Hatzolah members here at Is Ad-Rabbonon Hill, they would actually, um, have one at home and one in shul, but they don't carry, uh, equipment with them in Rosh Chodesh. All right, let's move on. A difficult question. Person, uh, um, there's a commode in the, in the, in the room. For someone who needs it, obviously. And the question is from not necessarily the, the person who needs it, but the other person who's there with them. Are they allowed to say words of Torah and, and tefillah, et cetera, while in the presence of that, where that, that piece of furniture? So let's read the Shulchan Aruch and Siman Peh Gimmel. It's, it's, it's actually in Nita Zeglad. Benei Adam, this is the It's permitted to read Shema in the presence of that stool. Because the stool itself is clean. And the, the chamber pot is not there. Plus, the opening is covered with a, with a lid. Now, this, this is, this is the Law of

21:57 the Mechaber. And on this, on this basis, it seems to be no problem. A commode has got a, a closed lid. It's not a problem. The Law of the Mechaber is a source of the Mordechai. And in the Mordechai, it seems to be that he sees this as a Beis Hakise. And therefore, you would have to keep a distance of Dal Damis from it, et cetera. And this Mordechai, the Taz, they, they, they, uh, they challenge the, the simple presentation of the Shulchan Aruch, and they are Machmir. So now I'm gonna read the... And the Alter Rebbe follows them. Now let's read the Alter Rebbe carefully. So they've got this stool which is used for relieving. This is the Ta- from the Taz. So they have little stools for the children who aren't able to go to the facilities on their own. So then one should have them covered at the time of davening, et cetera. Or take them out when you're davening alone. Because they're used for that purpose, it's got the status of Beis Hakise. Even if it's clean, it doesn't have any Siah, because it's, well, by status, Beis Hakise. Now, that's, that, that basically is saying that that piece of furniture, even though there's no trace on it of anything, but still it's got a status of Beis Hakise, and it'd have to be covered, or you'd have to go, um, um, a distance of Dal Damis. And if it's in front of you, Bemlo Ain. And similarly, we see in

23:59 the Mishnah Berurah, after he quotes the, uh, Shulchan Aruch, and he says, disagree with the Shulchan Aruch. And they say there's got a Din of Beis Hakise Yoshon, since it's young. And therefore, one shouldn't say that, that, um, stool has got din ve'heske, it'd have to count. Venire li deima saf saf meyukhed leishiva. If it's really a sh- it's a seat. Kemo kisa shemiyakhtin leishiva. It's like it looks like a regular chair. Umechusa bakar and it's got a cushion on it. Ukshe tzorich lehadavar meis ha-kar she'alol. When necessary, they take away the cushion, and then they would use it. Then he says, sheyesh lahatim iblik kisui klal. Then he says it is okay. So, m- my, my, uh, feeling, I mean, my, my tendency is to say that what's the difference whether the cushion is a totally separate unit or the c- cushion is, is hinged onto, you know, the back of the chair, but it is covered. And that's what he, he said, therefore it's covered. So first of all, es tesaze. First of all, the Mechaber says it's okay. But even if you take the, the tzad ha-machmirim, but still you're going to see, you see here that if it's covered, it's okay. That if it's covered with a, with a cushion, it's okay. Now you're asking this cushion called the cushion which covers. All right. I think the moko metzorech one could rely on, on this to say it is adequate. And therefore, a komod which looks like a regular chair, which

26:45 has got a padding, a padded seat or whatever, which ostensibly looks like a regular piece of furniture, I think, uh, let's say to, it would, it would be permitted to, uh, say Shema, et cetera, in its presence. On b'machmir to cover it, um, that would be more glad, but it's, it could be a big tircha. Person who's taking care of a person who needs such a thing has so many other things to worry about. I'd like to, uh, you know, try to make life easier for them. Okay. Let's go on to the next thing. Next question. Chassidim of yesteryear, not so long ago, um, we used to see them, sort of Mendel Futerfas, others, would take the talis and put it over the front, over the head, and say the bracha, and then take it off and twist it round to the back, and then, um, put it round and do atifa. Uh, wrap it round. So why, wh- why has this become ba- basically obsolete? So it's, uh, quite an interesting topic. Mechilah, I would like to say that, uh, with the atifa, I see people are, don't, don't, you know, very relaxed in the, the atifa. They... So- some people are, are standing there and talking whilst they're in the middle of doing it. That's, that's, you know, but that's another part. But just a little, uh, just covering their eyes with it. They're, they're just... The atifa is, is to be, be thrown over the back, the, the left shoulder. Um, and

28:24 you stay in that position for, uh, kedeych damah dal damas, which is a couple of seconds. And, uh, and then you say, ma yochech asse cho, you use the bias whilst you're doing so. Um, good. But that's, that's another discussion. But meanwhile, the timing of the bracha. So now we have two Lishonots of the Alter Rebbe in the Shulchan Aruch and in the Siddur. In the Shulchan Aruch, you can see here the Lashon. Uchsheyaschil lehisatef kodem sheysatef legamri yevarech mu'umad es atei vetzitzis. As you begin wrapping, before you wrap yourself totally, you'd say the bracha, les atei vetzitzis. In the Siddur, the Alter Rebbe also has hilchas tzitzis, and he says you should do the atifa standing, the bracha should be standing, v'chatchila. V'kodem sheyaschil es atef yevarech. You should say the bracha before you s- begin the atifa. So you've got a very, very clear difference. In the Siddur, he says before you start. In the Shulchan Aruch, he says once you start, before you do it completely. So it's, there's a clear d- uh, you say, difference between them. To explain a little bit more the reason, the reasoning behind these two shitas. There's two shitas. We know that there's a concept of every birkas hamitzvos should be oiver la'aseh yasod, should be said prior to the act. I believe I heard from my shver once the idea of machshava dibur omaisen. You think about the mitzvah you're gonna do, you say the bracha, and then you do the piul, you do the

30:10 mitzvah. Okay. So that's generally the rule, mitzvos. I know there's exceptions, netilas yadayim and hallah because neiros, but generally that's the halacha. Kol birkas hamitzvah should be oiver la'aseh yasod. But we don't make the bracha too far removed before. So we won't say the bracha holding the tefillin in the hand. We'll have the tefillin already on the, on the arm, just about ready to tighten, and that's when we say the bracha. Because it has to be oiver and not oiver de oiver. It shouldn't be too far removed before the mitzvah. Here, there's a fascinating discussion in Rishonim. Where, what is the mitzvah of tzitzis? Is the mitzvah of tzitzis a parallel to the avera of shatnes? Shatnes, if you put on a beged which has wool and linen, so the second you put it on, you violated the mitzvah of the, mitzvah lo yisa seif shatnes. The parallel to that would be the moment you put on the tzitzit, the garment with tzitzit, you have done the mitzvah. You can ca-take a different approach and say like this. The mitzvah of tzitzit is like this. If you are wearing a four-cornered garment, now you have a duty to go and put in tzitzit. But you're not in violation. The earlier you put it on, you have now a duty, but it's not, it's not a violation the earlier you put it on. There's a mitzvah now to put in tzitzit. The practical consequence of this is if a person come, comes, comes to shul on

31:47 a Shabbos morning and everyone wearing a tallis is un- embarrassed to sit without a tallis. The only tallis in shul is one which has got possul of tzitzit. So in the week, he's not allowed to put it on because he's mevatel mitzvah tzitzit. On Shabbos, he's allowed to put on the tallis. You say it like this. He's putting it on. Now, okay, go and put in tzitzit, but Shabbos is on us. He can't, can't put in tzitzit. So he's allowed to put on the tallis with the possul of tzitzit. Is he embarrassed? Okay, fine. But th-this is, this is, th-this is because this is the thinking here. It's also in the Mordechai, in, in, in, uh, it's Mordechai, I think, in M'noschas, where the Halachah of tzitzit. But at any rate, th-this is a-- this is to say that tzitzit is not like shatnez. Tzitzit is a regulator. The mitzvah of tzitzit is a regulator. It's a, it's a moment later. As a result, we have here a business of oiver d'oiver. If you make the bracha before you do the atifa, so then it's oiver d'oiver. It's two, it's two stages before. You haven't even put them on to say, "Oh, now I've put them on, I have here to put tzitzit." And that's why the Shulchan Aruch takes the opinion that you should-- once you've started, before you've complete the atifa, okay, that's when you say the bracha. For some reason, the Alter now, there's a different opinion in Rishonim. Some will hold

33:09 like the mitzvah of tzitzit is parallel to shatnez. There's a t'shuvah in Yevamos Daf Tadig who seems to take the view it's the parallel of, of, of, of, uh, shatnez. But all right. Okay. Now let's take a look. Now, so now what did the Alter Rebbe Siddur do? They followed the siddur. We know that the siddur was written by the Alter Rebbe after the Shulchan Aruch, and we pof-- when there's a c- a conflict of opinion, we'll follow the siddur. And therefore, they say since it says in the siddur to make the bracha before the atifa, so that's what they did. They made the bracha with the tallis, with the, with the tallis over their head and from the front. So they have two makifim, made the bracha, and then they used to do the atifa. Now let's take a look in the Hayom Yom of He'el where it says the following: "Our custom in wearing a tallis gadol. We put the tallis gadol on the shoulder, on the right shoulder. Then you're making the tzitzit." By the way, I'm going to confess, on the second day of Yom Kippur, I don't always put it on my shoulder. I may still, I may, I may... I just have the tallis like, like, on the table. It's all messed up. Um, so if it just took a... Sometimes if I'm feeling very pious, I'll put it on my shoulder also. Okay. Um, "B'sha'a sav'dika oim rimbo chenafshi." Then we take the tallis from the shoulder. We

34:35 kiss the... We spread out the tallis. Kiss the edges of the tallis. Swing it round from front to the back. Then you start the bracha of lis ativ tzitzit. Once it's on, on y- on your back, "Siyum habrachah samuch lekrichas base kanfes y'min siv savora l'achor ve'tzad sumer." So the way you get the impression is that you start the bracha when it's already on you from the back, but you haven't done the atifa yet, and you say the bracha. You'd stretch out the bracha until you're... At this point, just before you throw it over your shoulder. So it looks like the Hayom Yom is a kind of compromise trying to incorporate both the siddur and the Shulchan Aruch, that you start the bracha just as you're beginning to wrap yourself. Yeah. Or we could say just a moment before, but then you start the bracha there, but you s- continue with the bracha as you are just about to wrap yourself. Um, I think that's what... To my... I... All right. So what does it mean? This atif is wra-wrapped around your body, but you haven't thrown it over your shoulders. That could be how it's fulfilling what's written in the Shulchan, in the Shulchan Aruch. "Yasgil is ativ kedem sheyes ativ legawri." Uh, it's not totally, uh, clear in the Hayom Yom. I know you can argue with me about it, but it certainly, um, says that the bracha is not when you have the tallis in front of you. That's no question, yeah.

36:11 The minhag acharit hayam of yesteryear would be to have to make the bracha whilst it's in the front. But here it says clearly, you swing it round, "Mach zeh oys fun mikh neged pon ivl'ach orov," and then you start the bracha. Therefore, that's now... Then he refers to this whole lomdus, which I've been telling you, the Machlukis, HaRishonim with the comparison to shatnez, et cetera. This is discussed actually in this She'eilis Yehuda, the Alter Rebbe's brother. There's two t'shuvahs which kind of seem to be in kind of, um, um, opposite positions about this. And then the Divrei Nechemya, who was a contemporary of the Tzemach Tzedek, a colleague of the Tzemach Tzedek. So this whole lomdus is discussed at length. But the, the... Be kid so that's, that's the, the background to this whole story. Okay, let's move on. So someone asked me a question. And we know in Gemara it says, "Hayole Beis David, kol ha'yotzim l'milchemes Beis David geat krisus n-nekeset v'lishtei." That the soldiers- In the, uh, the army of David HaMelech would write a get to their wives before going to battle. Um, is why is that not done or not followed nowadays? So a couple of points about this. One thing is that we have here one of the, uh, he comes very regular in our shul. But Butel Weiss is the Kadassia or the union, um, head of the Gittin department. So he told me that during the war, Rav Abramsky was in London, and there, there were Yiddish

37:54 boys who were drafted, you know, Yiddish men who were drafted into the army, to the British Army to go into, into Europe. And he did make a lot of effort that there should be, uh, at least, uh, authorization, a written authorization in Bezhden. That they had given permission that in case they do not return after X amount of time, the Bezhden should write a get for their wives. And during... Now, I might get, get the facts right, slightly wrong. The, the Bezhden's premises was in the East End at the time, and the premises of the Bezhden had a direct hit, was bombed during the war. And Rav Abramsky, afterwards, obviously, he made his way to the Bezhden. It was very important for him to search through the rubble that there was a safe. And in the safe, that's where they had those documents. And it was, it, it was so important for him that those documents are still intact. So that's just an interesting thing that they, they made some... Those boys who were drafted into, uh, the British Army, those who were conscientious, so they did do something to enable that the Bezhden, the Bezhden would be able to act on their behalf. Then, whilst I was doing a search, uh, I came across a long, um, article by the late, late Rav Goren. And he talks about this, and he said that they don't... That, that this was once brought up and the, the, uh, volunteers to go for, to fight in, we're

39:38 talking about in the, in the '50s or the '40s. If they would have to write a get, they, they would be... That would be a, a terrible deterrent. They wouldn't want to go. Um, they, they weren't ready to do that. So it was like a volun-voluntary, uh, army, and therefore they, they, they, they didn't, didn't agree to do that. But then it's really, uh, he has a harrowing report of, uh, Gush Etzion. I don't know, um, I'm sure many of you know the, the story of the Gush Etzion, how they were completely sur-surrounded by the, uh, by the Jordanians, by the Arab Legion, whatever. And there were, there was a terrible massacre there. And it looks like he got permission. He writes, "I got..." He was, uh, he got permission to go in, yeah, with a blindfold. He went into the premises of where it took place, where this massacre took place, to be able to, uh, help identify, uh, to be able to permit, permit the, the wives to, uh, to, to remarry. But, um, just basically that's, that seems to be the Cheshbon, that it would be very, uh, very discouraging. And the other thing is that Baruch Hashem, um, is honestly, um, is honestly recent, but the ability to identify and to keep track is nowadays so much more sophisticated, and therefore, um, the higher the, the need for such a thing is much less than, uh, than it was needed in the times of David HaMelech. At any rate, um, it's

41:16 not done and, uh, it was all, you know, it was all the same stuff in. And, uh, as I said it earlier, everyone should come home beshalomos, uh, in, in good health. Okay, someone asked me what to do with the old lulav. So here you have in Siman Taf Res Sam Dalet. And he refers us to Siman Chof Alef. This is that, that the article used for a mitzvah, even though you're no longer using it for the mitzvah, still you should treat it with respect. Therefore, you shouldn't tread on it. So the, you, the old Hachsharas and the old lu- the old lulav, et cetera, um, to treat them with... Not, not to treat them with disrespect. Then we have... This is from the, uh, the Machaver, Shulchan Aruch Siman Taf Res Sam Dalet. And here we have in Aruch HaShulchan Aruch, Chochas Pesach, Siman end of Siman Taf Mem He. It says the following. Now, those who have the minyan to use the aravos from Hashanah Rabbah to use them for burning the chametz. Something used for one mitzvah should be, it's good to use it again for another mitzvah. Some use the aravos of the lulav, um, for the burning, for the baking of the matzahs. Um, by the way, if you want to do that, don't keep your aravos in a plastic bag. They'll, they'll just become all rotten and, and mushy. You have to leave them, uh, somehow in a, in a dry place to let them, let them breathe and

43:14 evaporate and, uh, dry out. But it's interesting because the difference here, whether to use the aravos for birds-- for burning the chametz or to use the aravos for baking matzahs. Aravos, the eshanes, is kind of a mooring of, of, of getting, you know, misuk hagvures. And therefore, I think that could, could be the reason for using it for, for burning chametz. Whereas the, uh, ar-aravos of the lulav is a mitzvah ase. And therefore, the parallel to that, it should be used for baking matzahs. Having said both of this, uh, I heard that the rabbi would not wait for, uh, Erev Pesach. And at some time during winter, it was taken down to the incinerator in the basement of seven seventy. It was burnt, uh, summer. So it wasn't left till Erev Pesach. The, so the issue is you, that you don't... you shouldn't u-uh, use them in... Some people use them for, for schach. Um, but, uh, not to disgrace them. That's the issue. It should be, uh... If it has to be disposed, it be should be disposed in a, in a, in a bag, in a respectful way. Right. Okay. So now someone asked me why eggs are pareve and not fleishig. So it's an interesting question. And what I saw in Cyclopedia Talmud is he talks about this. And although... So the, the question is, if you have a, if you have an egg born from a neveilah, uh, if, if you find, if you find an egg inside a chicken, um,

44:57 the chi-the egg is, is sometimes is fleishig, etc. So why, why is it if the egg can be fleishig if it's found inside a chicken, why is the egg or not normally, why is the egg pareve? And basically, he says that really, basar oif be cholov is mid'Rabbonon. This he brings from Poskim, that, uh, cooking mi-- um, um, meat and milk is written in the Torah. "Lo tashen gibechalav im oy." But, um, but, um, a, a chicken or a bird, to cook a bird in, in milk is, is the Rabbonon. And therefore, they won't so machmir on, uh, o-on, on egg because it's... that's one, one step removed because it's Rab-Rabbonon. Or because each one has got, um, the, the, you know, meat and milk is more lenient than, than, uh, than treif, in a sense that from a treif a bird, if a ch-- treif, treif bird lays an egg, so then the tr-treif will go over to the, to the egg also. But meat and milk, it's only when there's a combination. Until then, it's both of them are muta. So these are the two reasons given why an egg doesn't have an issue of, uh, doesn't have a status of fleishig. Yes, of course, there's a question without that what, what about milk? But the Torah for sure means milk, uh, not as fleishig, yeah. But, uh, all right, fine. Um, one last question which I'm gonna deal with, then we'll say a, um, a bit of Tehillim, and we'll say a

46:32 tefillah. And that is, someone asked if a... is a ger culpable for crimes committed before he or she converted. So, so if a ger smashed a window, but a goy and then he's magay, does he now not, um, not have to pay? No, I'm a different person. So one, one, uh, perhaps rule of thumb would be the kind of thing which teshuva doesn't help. A person breaks a window and says, "I'm sorry." Comes to bet din, he still has to pay. Uh, and if a, if a person had done a crime which is high of Mrs. Bet din, so then he'd still have to, uh, have the punishment. It doesn't help if he'll stand in bet din and cry and say, "I'm sorry, and I'm... I will never do it again." Uh, that would not change his, uh, his verdict. So once there's already been a, a psak or bet din on... Let's say if a ger had-- if a goy had committed a crime which, which is, um, warrants capital punishment, and then he's magay, then he wouldn't get off the hook. Um, some things, there will be a difference between the, the, the verdict for a goy or for a Yid. That may change. But, um, but that's, that's the general, the general psak, the, the general guideline. That the things which are, uh, which teshuva would help, then okay. So then also a ger is a, a different person would take away the guilt. But if it's something which, uh, teshuva won't,

48:05 um, change, so then that liability will remain even after geris. Someone's asking, what about the esrog? I'm not able to make, um, esrog jam. After some time, they shrivel and shrink and become brown. They can be binned then. The truth is that even now you could... Yeah, I, I also... It's nice to use. Some people use them for, for besamim. Um, emotionally, it seems to be wrong to, uh, just throw them away now. But min ha-din, just if they're wrapped respectively, they would be able to be binned even now. But certainly, once they are, uh, turned brown, yeah. All right. I'm gonna take a Tehillim. We'll say a couple of Kapitelach of Tehillim, and then we'll, uh, say a Mishabeira tefillah. We'll say Kapitel Chof, and, um, we'll say Kapitel Chof. Amaseach Mizmor L'David. Gan cho l'Adonai b'rimsoro. Esagev cho Shem melech Yaakov. Yishlach ezra cho mikeidesh umeziya yisadecho. Yiszke kol minchesecho velo cho yidach shneiseh lo. Yiten l'cho chilvat recho v'chol atzoz cho yimale. Heranu b'yeshuosecho veShem melecheinu nidgel. Yimale Adonai kol mishalasecho. Ata yodati ki yeshia Adonai mashi'cho. Yaaneihu mishmei kodesho bigbor es yeshi yemino. Eilev arechev ve'eilev basusim. Anachnu beshem Adonai elheinu nazkir. Heim akoru vanafalu vaanachnu kamnu va-nis adod. Adonai yeshi'u ha'melech yaaneinu yem koreinu. We've been saying after each tefillah, Chof, Chof Beis, and some Achtes, uh, and Chof Nun. Rabbi Lew mentioned today also say the Rebbe's capital, which is also very relevant. But when, when we were saying, um, this morning Tehillim Shabbats Mevarchim, uh, I found Kapitel

50:03 Ayn Tes very, um, relevant. Um, so also another one, uh, also in, uh, in Kapitel Nun Ches, there's a couple of mentions of Hamas, uh, Hamas Nosho, Ha- uh, Hamas Lomoi. But I'd like to go through Capital I test which I feel is, um, very appropriate, and then we'll say that the, the Tefillah of the Friday which the- which is attributed to the Friday Kadim. . May it be Your wish, Hashem, the strength of Yaakov, the holiness of, uh, Israel that the Malachim, the angels, uh, positive angels should bring forth to you the prayers of your j- your people and merit of the reading of the verses of the, uh, uh, chapters of Tehillim, which was said by David HaMelech of Blessed Memory. Uh, in the merit of the prayers of, uh, your Jewish pe- your people, you should be filled with mercy for your Jewish, for, for your, the house of Israel. That is of the base Israel, those who are broken, who are being tortured in, uh, murderous torture, in, in, in starvation, in exile, and in captivity. Our father, our king, look at the blood of our brothers and sisters which has been shed, and may your mercy, uh, overpower your anger from us, and may your mercy, uh, override the, the other attributes. Oh please, Father, merciful Father, have com-compassion and mercy on your children who s- who see you as, as the one deity. Um, protect them, their families, their seed, us, our families, our seed from the enemies who

54:34 are arising against them and against us to annihilate us. With your g-g- goodness and your, the, your compassion, your kindness, save them and us from all evil and suffering, illness, p-p-plague, um, ha-famine, captivity, plunder from any fear and any pain, and all those who are willfully trying to, uh, harm us should be, uh, destroyed, um, immediately, and all the enemies of your, uh, people should be, uh, annihilated q- speedily. Oh please, Father, compassionate, um, merciful, protect your Jewish people wherever they are, and with your holy name, you should exalt them and save them. And because of your great mercy, as it says, Apostle Hashem is a merciful God, and he will not let, let loose of you, and he will not destroy you. He will not forget the covenant which he swore to our forefathers. Oh, one who is, uh, living and always exist-- or, or existing, m- perform for us miracles and wonders in the merit of your-- our holy Torah, and redeem your people, your heritage, the Israel, the house of I- of Israel from our enemies. C- confuse the s- the scheming of those who are rising against us, uh, our children, our j- uh, our, our sons and daughters, wives and, and little ones. Uh, remember your children, your sons and daughters who are looking, uh, anticipating your, your salvation the whole day. And may it be before y- before you should-- and before your countenance our suffering, our toil, and see our pain, uh, battle our, our, uh, quarrels. And

57:17 they should all know that you are the Holy One for our Eden and their savior. Please, our Father, our God of our strength, have mercy on us and on all your Jewish people all over the world, and lighten for us the pain, the p- pangs of Mashiach. And send to us the holy-- the righteous Mashiach to gather in our dispersed from the four corners of the earth. And he will re- reach, uh, and bring us, lead us standing, uh, upright to our, to our land, and there we will serve you in the house of God in Yerushalayim, the holy city. Amen to Amen. Don't forget also to add in stock here, and I wish you all a Gut Voch, and we should hear Besuras Teyves. Thank you very much. Go ahead, Diane Raskin. Uh, uh, thank you