שלח תשפ״ד

00:12 Good evening. Welcome to tonight's shiur. Tonight is the Thursday of Parashat Shelach. Tonight's shiur is sponsored by Reb Pinchas Rabin and family in the honor of the chassan of his fourth-- of his, uh, the forthcoming chassan of his son, Mordechai Sho, with Ettie Halperin, which is next week, uh, Tuesday in Monsey. And I, uh, understand that Mr. Rabin is always here on-online, but he's not o-online today because he's actually in flight on the way to the United States. So we wish them mazel tov and lots of nachas. And I want to also say yasher koach to Reb Pinchas for his, uh, unstinting s-support for this shiur, and, uh, much appreciated. Before we go into the actual shiur, um, this shiur used to be put online by Rabbi Yaakov, who's on shlichas in Wyoming. Uh, a way of his being able to support his presence there, he also does rendering. For those who are not familiar what rendering is, it's when you have a property, a plan to build something. You have an architect who does the plan, but then you have an idea-- someone who takes the plan and makes it into a, uh, virtual reality picture or video. So that's what, uh, Yaakov does for a parnassa. And so if you know someone who is into maybe a building project who may want, whether fundraising or for personal reasons, wants to get a renderer. So that's ht-- https://vimeo.com/nine six three six five five six three three. Uh, and, um, so that's-- I'm saying it

02:15 audio because some people are listening just by a recording. So there we go. Baruch Hashem, the funder raising for the siddur is well underway, reached more than halfway our target. Uh, anyone, again, I'm going to just say the website for, for, uh, contributing. So that's https://www.kahot.org/dedicate/products/hp-srh. So I'm gonna share with you something which is discussed in the siddur, and that is about eating before-- on the morning before a fast. Now, in Tanya, there is a notion in Tanya which is in Gate of Teshuva, Perek Gimel, which says that-- It's talking about people fasting as an atonement for various, uh, sins which they have in their past. So it says, "But gam yochel le-echol me-at." Could also eat a little bit. "Ke-gimol shaos lefnei netz ha-chamah." Some three hours before sunrise. "Ve-afo pi ken," even if you had your early breakfast three hours before sunrise. "Neheges le-taanit im hisnor ken," if you had anticipated. So, uh, people who want to eat before a fast in the early morning, before daybreak, so one would have to kind of stipulate before going to sleep that you want to still have a snack or something middle of the night. Otherwise, when you go to sleep, it's as if, as if you have been mekabbal the taanis. So but here there's something about three hours before a f-before sunrise. Now, this is not the same as dawn. Dawn on average is, well, in Eretz Yisrael would be about seventy-two minutes before sunrise. Even if you stretch it, but it, it's

04:20 not... Even in Russia, it's not three hours before sunrise. So where does the cheshbon of three hours before sunrise come from? So in that article, which on the previous slide, so there's the let-- there's the reference to letters of the Rebbe which discusses this, comes up with some really novel, uh, ways of explaining this. At any rate, this is a chumrah, extra. You're fasting because of a t-- for teshuva. All right, so you have a margin of three hours before. In the Sefer HaMinhagim, there is-- it quotes this piece from Tanya, and then the compiler, otherwise known as Reb Leibel Groner, says that, "Tzorich iyun im be-chol taanit din hu yitein." Um, it's, it's wording is questionable whether this idea of three hours before the fast applies to other fasts or only a personal fast for teshuva. Now, if that's what's written, Reb Leibel Groner w-is-- was-- had said, was quoted as saying that on occasion, the Rebbe had asked him what time is dawn. It was a fa-- you-- like a fast day, whether it was Zera Yeteiv, whatever it may be. And Reb Leibel asked the Rebbe in response, "But isn't there a business of three hours?" And the Rebbe dismissed it, that that's got to do with a personal fast, but not a public fast. Now, this raises a very interesting question. Why should a personal fast be stricter than a communal fast? That's, that's the question which I'm going to deal with. Is there a logic in a personal fast being

06:12 more strict than a communal fast which is obligatory for everyone? Before going to respond to that question, I just wanna point out that this discussion is not relevant for Shiva Asar B'Tammuz, at least in my part of the world. And this is where the Alter Rebbe in the siddur, that's why it comes into the siddur. The Alter Rebbe in the siddur by Sefiras HaOmer. Now, he's-- Alter Rebbe is, is translating the margin of dawn before sunrise, that it shouldn't be a flat rate of seventy-two minutes or whatever. It's not a flat rate, but rather it is to be measured in degrees. How many degrees beneath the horizon is the sun in Eretz Yisrael seventy-two minutes before sunrise in Yemei Mitzvat Yishru at the times of the, uh, equinox? And that is understood to be sixteen degrees beneath the horizon. So wherever you are in the world, whatever time of the year, your dawn is going to be when the sun, the sun is sixteen de-degrees beneath the horizon. The issue is that the further north you go in the height of summer, there's not going to be... The sun never goes so low beneath the horizon. As we know, there are places where you've got the white nights, uh, where there's no da- no, no dark at all, or it just becomes just like t- like a twilight, et cetera. So the Alter Rebbe here in the siddur is saying that Alot Ha... Amud HaShachar, which is dawn, in his country, in Koidinos Einas Zoinios,

08:04 is actually so early that it's actually at midnight. 'Cause it can't go earlier than midnight 'cause that's the previous day. So dawn is at midnight. Consequently, two things. Don't count Sefira after Chatzoes because it's already day. Second thing, comes Shiva Asar B'Tammuz after Chatzoes, you're not allowed to eat. Now, I believe that in New York, it's a much lower, uh, latitude than, than, than we are in London. London is possibly even on the same latitude as Toronto or even higher. London is q-quite high. The reason why we d- have mild weather is because of the Gulf Stream. Okay. Meanwhile, so what I'm saying at this moment is, this three-hour margin does not apply for us in, uh, for Shiva Asar B'Tammuz because the gap between sunrise and dawn is actually more than three hours, and possibly New York also at this time of the year. So, but by other fasts. Com-but coming back to our original question, is there a logic to say that a voluntary fast should be stricter than a mandatory fast? That is my question. So we came across, we're learning Gemara every evening, um, during the weekdays, and we came across the following. Talking about the Korban Tamid, and it says, "LaCheves Ho Echad." So what does it mean by LaCheves Ho Echad? Does it mean the morning Korban Tamid or the afternoon one? VeRabonon, they say, "My Echad Meyuchad." When it says LaCheves Ho Echad, it means it has to be a very special one. It has to be the

09:49 best, the best sheep in the herd has to be taken to be the Korban. HaMeyuchad SheBeEdre, the best one in the herd. VeRebbe, and Rebbe says, "Of course, you take a Korban, the best in the herd." But where do you learn it from? It says, "A pasuk: Mivchan Edarech Navcha." It says in that you make a vow to bring a Korban, it should be the best. But Rabonon, the Rabonon say, "You got that right. It says also elsewhere that you should take Mivchar, the best." But still, Chad BeChoiv VeChad BeNedavah. The one pasuk is to say that when it comes to a Chiyuv, a Korban Tamid, that should be the best one. And the other one, Nedarech, is a personal vow. Utzrich. We need to have the message from Torah, both for personal vow and for mandatory Korban, that they should be the best. Now let's now look into the Rash. Utzrich. Why do we need to have the Torah tell us you should have the-- you should choose the best both for a Chiyuv and for a voluntary one? Yes, Sad Nuit. There is an argument to say. There is an inclination to say. SheHanadav Otzo Chiyuv Apoiso. The one which is voluntary, that has to be the most beautiful. Kodesh Yitisrat Zeleduin VeHakbalas Panim. You're giving a gift to cr-create goodwill. So you want to give... So you don't cut corners on a gift which you want to create goodwill. Therefore, I understand that the Torah says, Mivchan Edarech. I understand, but who

11:17 says that the one which is mandatory has to be the best? But yes, Sad Naitu Lomar. Then there's this verse the other way. SheHaChoiv HaMuteles Tzorich Lifroi HaChoiv MiShalem. On the contrary, the thing which is a duty, deal with the, the duty in the, in the best way. Extras is extras. Extras, extras don't have to be so nice. So there's an argument both ways. Now, um, so coming back, we've got here a mandatory fast like, uh, like, uh, Ta-Taanis Esther or, or, uh, Asara B'Teves. Then we've got a voluntary fast. There is this-- And why is he volun-fasting voluntarily? Because he has a Cheit of, of, of Averus which he wants to atone for. So that's a voluntary fast. So there's an argument to say that a voluntary fast should actually be better. Be, be m-more careful. And possibly that's the Tzorich Iyun, which is being said here in Sefer HaMinhagim. And the MAIS says, seems to be, to say that a-- because the Alter Rebbe said by the voluntary fast that you should be Machmir to have a full three hours approximately before sunrise, therefore, you should say that it should become, uh, al- also this Chumrah should be extended to mandatory fast. Which then don't forget, that means it's, it's a Chumrah which can be applied to everyone, not just to the Machmirim who want to fast extra. So they all said that that's a Tzorich Iyun. This is as far as they said, "No, it doesn't apply only to mandatory fast-- only

12:41 to voluntary fast." So I want to just, just take that one step further, and that is when you-- That, that a, a kosher mikveh has to be based with rainwater or with a spring. A mikveh for tevilas ezra, a man after he's had relations to be, uh, to, to, uh, to purify himself, says in the Gemara, it's enough mayim she'urim, can be water from the tap or from bucket. You fill up a mikveh with buckets, and it's kosher. What about when Chassidim are particular to tevil times to be p- places taharah, whether it's in every morning, whether some people only, uh, Erev Shabbos, some people, uh, are, uh, only Erev Yom Tov, but it's clearly it's not a chiyuv. It's, it's a-- It's for extra taharah. Does it have to be a kosher mikveh as in rainwater, or can it be just tap water, just bucket water? So this, this is the s- the same i-idea. When you're doing something as a hidur mitzvah, it shouldn't be cutting corners. On the contrary. There's a Seforim to say that Rashi says, "Sonech leya poso." You should make it as beautiful because you're doing it as a, as a voluntary. You're doing it as a gift. So do it, do it. You have to do it. Give it with nice wrapping, yeah, nice wrapping paper. Okay, let's move on. Now, one of our listeners asked me. Now we're going to a totally different topic, but also in Aggadita realm. He's asking the story. He probably is learning

14:16 Daraioy Mi, and it has a story of Avraham Avinu when the three Malachim, three angels come, and he serves them. He asks Sarah to make, uh, cakes, lushi v'asi ugoyis. And then it came to actually serving, and he serves them butter and milk and the ben ha-baker, but he doesn't serve bread. Why didn't he serve bread? So he says because Sarah developed, uh, nidah, a state of nidah. Therefore, that the bread became tamei. Avraham Avinu was particular to eat chulin betarah, so he didn't serve bread. That's the first one. Then the Malachim turned to Avraham, and they say, "Where is your wife, Sarah?" Ayes Sarah Ishta. Uh, why were they asking? So there's three opinions. The third opinion is the Shagir Lo Koach Shel Brocha. They wanted to give a Koach Shel Brocha. So the understanding, the general understanding is Koach Shel Brocha means we've eaten, we bench, we're gonna bench with a Kos of wine, a cup of wine. And so we're going to give, uh, some of the, some of the wine from Koach Shel Brocha. So here comes the question. If they didn't eat bread, so why... Then they didn't bench. So why do you need a Koach Shel Brocha? So I did a search on my Otzar HaChochma, and I saw this question seems to appear in about two hundred Seforim or something. I didn't browse through all of them, but I did go through quite a few. And so then perhaps the, the Malachim had sandwiches with them. Perhaps Avraham

15:50 had other bread, which was from before, but it wasn't fresh bread. It came up with all different... Some say that you can, uh, if you're having a proper meal of other foods. It's also all, all, all interesting, and I wasn't satisfied. Um, you may not be satisfied with my answer either. But I was suggesting it was simply he had a bris. And after a bris, we make a brocha and a cup of wine to, to celebrate. We make a bris and take a brocha. Hashecheteni she did mi beten. Of course, Ya- Avraham Avinu didn't say the brocha, Hashecheteni she did mi beten, because it hadn't happened yet. But it was a bri-- He, he had gone through a major, um, milestone here. He had been waiting to be able to do the bris. He'd done the bris, and now he wants to celebrate as he has now three, um, three visitors. And so they make a simcha, and they have a Koach Shel Brocha, the Kos of, of, of, um, like the Kos of the Bris. That's what my suggestion is. Now, actually, we usually do the Kos of the Bris right after the Bris, yeah. I've had this question in most of the... When they do the Bris for the adults. In Russia, for example, there are a lot of adult Bris. For Hashem, it's happening. And so the Bris is done in a more private setting, but afterwards can be, uh, can be even in the evening. They're sometimes doing a setting of

17:10 the Bris is in, in the day, and the, and the meal is a few hours later. So then comes the shayla, can you make the brocha and the cup of wine when it's so far removed from the Bris? So actually, there's a Rosh in the Dinim of Kidushin. He says that you could do, um, Sheva Berachos. Even it can be a few days afterwards. It doesn't have to be right away. If you're making a feast for the chasuna, let's say you didn't have a minyan for the chasuna, and you have a, a few days later, he talks about a Seforim making a brocha, Sheva Berachos, a few days later. So therefore, I'm not so surprised there can be also a brocha for a Bris, uh, three days later. It's not an issue. Not such a problem. So our suggestion is the Koach Shel Brocha was that they, uh, they say the l'chaim for Avraham after his Bris, and so the Koach Shel Brocha would be the Kos of Birkat Hamazon. So having said that, now we're going to on, on to another question. Talking about Bris already. So I had the following question. I don't have a slide for it, but I don't have a, a source. So I got a shliach somewhere in Eastern Europe. So this morning, this he asked me yesterday, they're having a bris. So the family who are making the bris, they are Shemitah, Shemitah mitzvas. Now, coming to the bris is also a brother-in-law and sister-in-law who are a

18:37 couple, and they don't keep Torah shebezhrach. And so the question was, could the baal simcha order them to be kohen? The kohen arrangement is, because the baby's with the mother and the bris is in the men's shul, so how does the baby get from the women's area to the men's area? So you've got an arrangement called kohen, where a woman brings the baby to the door and her husband takes it from her and brings the baby to the bris. That's the kohen and kohenin. Very well. Now, but if she-- If they're not keeping Torah shebezhrach, so then you... There's an issue of, of causing them to pass them to one another, which is, uh, all right. In, In the spectrum, it's not a huge, it's not such a huge thing, but it is something which is an issue, yeah? So they're asking could he-- Is it okay to honor them to be kohen? Not a, not a straightforward answer. But I said to him, "You know what? Tell the mother... Sorry, tell the, the kohenin it's such a big zchus to be a kohenin, you should go to mikvah before being kohenin." So she went to mikvah. Uh, I... She didn't do all the preparations. I've heard from very good sources that if a woman who's far from it wants to go to mikvah, you let her go to mikvah even though she hasn't done all the preparations. We're talking here in, in a formal way. It's gonna be for the bris, she goes to

20:05 mikvah. The bride, when she's, uh, come to a state of tahara. Right. Um, next. What's this on the screen? Oh. Behemshich to our previous discussion about, um, the sorrow with the bread becoming tamei. So someone asked me this week that they are making a hachnasat orchayim. And the woman made a nice cake with the cream and everything. And, and there's also hachnasat orchayim, is also putting on, uh, writing. Some sukim are written on with icing, and she's made this whole, the whole cake. And then someone's made it. She found, discovered that it's, that it shouldn't be done by the woman who's a nidah. And so now, what do we do with the cake? Do we tell her to take the whole cake and then, you know, discard it? So I didn't want to just dismiss this minhag Israel of having a daf yomi nidah and a daf yomi ishah tahorah. So, you know, let, let him get an... If it's possible to arrange another cake. So we'll have... And, And the, the kids will enjoy two cakes. I'm sure they can manage that. But meanwhile, I looked up in, as I say, V'sheva Habris from Reb Shmuel Berenitz, also saying gesund. And he brings this from the Magzav Etri, that the cake for a, for a Reuvens orchayim should be made by a basulah, an, a girl who has never been married. Why is that? Because by Matan Torah, there was a three-day, uh, preparation that the men were not meant to have relations, so

21:52 that they should not be, um, in a state of dis-discharge of, uh, shechiat zerer. Therefore, the Minhag Magzav Etri, he was a Simcha Talmud of Rashi, close to a thousand years ago. Therefore, the Minhag was that a basulah, an unmarried girl, would be the one to make the, uh, cake for the Reuvens orchayim. Then he quotes from another tush form, Orach Chayim and Kol Buri. They say that by Yashar Makpidim, I think by fourth Sefer, it says it shouldn't be done by a nidah. It doesn't mention... This is two levels. A basulah is, is more, how do you say, more limited than to say a woman when they say tovatah. Then he finishes off that the fact that these chumras are not well-known by the-- popularly, that's because the Torah, the Yerakhiach, the Sad Yosef, and Kava Yoshur, these three well-- more well-known Sefarim don't bring these chumras. And therefore, what I responded to this fellow is, "Listen, it's not a big issue. Uh, um, you can see that the latest Sefarim don't bring it. If it's-- So therefore, it's no big deal. If it's no big deal at all, so you get another cake. If not, you can use it." Okay, let's move on. Right. So on Monday morning, this is on, this is on your sheet if you have the printout. It's on pa-- Number, question number four. On Monday morning, I'm in Yeshivah, and after Shemoneh Esreh, someone comes over to me and he says he forgot to say, uh, to b-

23:26 say morning brachos. What should he do now? So actually, what I did was, uh, I arranged that he should get Birchas-- Um, he should have an Aliyah L'Torah, and that way he's got Birchas HaTorah from his Aliyah L'Torah. But let's go through this. He was, uh-- He knew the question that it says in Shechinat Hacham that if you've said Ahavas Olam, the bracha before the Shema, it talks all about... A lot of it talks about Torah. Therefore, if you-- Once you've said Ahavas Olam, you don't have to say Birchas HaTorah. Now, Shechinat Hacham says that's only if you learned right afterwards. So then the Ahavas Olam becomes a Birchas HaTorah if you learn Torah right away. Next thing he writes, the Mechaber, that's some say that even he said Shema is also counted as Birchas-- In the, uh... By having said Ahavas Olam, then Birchas-- Um, then Shema. So it's as if you learned Torah. Uh, Shema is also part of Torah, and you're yotzer with that, and therefore, you don't have to say Birchas HaTorah later. Now, here in the Alter Rebe Shechinat Hacham, he brings this, and he says, "If you learned right after She-- Im loban achar, krishma ufila miyad." Whereas the Mechaber says, "Im loban miyad," this is explained to be right after Shemoneh Esreh, because you're not allowed to learn at that point. You shouldn't be mafsik. It means right after Shemoneh Esreh, as soon as you could, you took a sefer and you learned, so you're yotzer with the

24:51 Ahavas Olam. Then he brings a second opinion that by saying, even reading the Shema, reciting the Shema, already counts. That already counts as having learned Torah, and therefore, your Ahavas Olam counts as a Birchas HaTorah. So what happens now? Do you follow the second opinion or first? Now, this, this is this fellow's question. So the Alter Rebe finishes off that we have to take both opinions, and if you did say Avos Olam, you said Shema right away, then you cannot say Birkat Torah afterwards because arguably you've already had Birkat Torah by saying Avos Olam. So according to the Alter Rebbe, there's an Ishtab Oseton because the Svara Safek Bracha L'Chachil you've already said, you already said Birkat Torah. Well, that's giving him an Aliyah L'Torah obviously wa-was, was a benefit. In the Mishne Berura, he brings from the Vilna Gaon that Kol Shema does not work, disagrees with the second Svara. And he quotes from other Svarim. Then he says, if, if he was saying Shema after the Kol Shema, then that's for sure it's Kikuyrem HaTorah. But if it's before, he remains Inosofik. So the Mishne Berura doesn't pasken clearly that it... Like the Gerah, he just quotes him and he says many pos-pasken there. He doesn't, he doesn't himself pasken that way. But meanwhile, for the Alter Rebbe, it's clear that in this case, if you said Avos Olam, and you said Shema, so Be'di Eved you cannot say Birkat Torah because of the Hashash Baruch L'Avartzah. And therefore it was-- because it

26:25 was Monday or Thursday, uh, there was the opportunity to give him an Aliyah. That was certainly a, a bonus. Okay. Now, question number five. Someone asked me the following. I don't know the person and I don't know his family condition, you know. What I do know is his parents are divorced, and his mother is asking him to say Kaddish for her father who had recently passed away, or Yahrtzeit. But there's-- he has a father and mother. So I don't know whether the father is a shulgoer or not. He's asking does he-- can he say Kaddish for his maternal grandfather without asking his father? Is-- I, I, I'm suspecting that if he would ask his father, then possibly the answer would be no because there may be some kind of, you know, lack of harmony between one and the other. So it-- he's not so keen to ask his father. So I said to him, "Would your father be upset if you say Kaddish?" "Eh, he wouldn't care." "Okay, then that's, that's okay. You don't have to ask." Here's the Halacha in Kuf Lamed Bet in, in Ramoh. Says Kaddish Yatom. Now, first of all, and I don't know why it's not followed. I go to Mishnah Berachah sometimes and Mishnah in our shul. Uh, if there's no, if there's no Chi'u, Kaddish should be said after Leining in any case. It's end of davening and, uh, Kaddish should be said. Even if there's no Yatom in the shul, should be said by someone who doesn't

28:01 have parents. Someone who does have parents can also say it if his parents are not Makpid. So coming back to our point that he doesn't have to ask his father. If he's, if he assesses that his father wouldn't, wouldn't bother him that he says Kaddish, so then he doesn't have to, uh, ask his father permission explicitly. We're going to the next question. Well, yeah. So a bit of action last week. A lot of you got these, uh, notices that the Hashgacha has been removed. Chuch Sam Sofer have taken off the Hashgacha from a certain wine which is imported from Spain, cognac, champagne, uh, milk powder, butter, surimi, which is some kind of fish, which are imported from France. And they write, "Even if it has our, uh, logo, our stamp, and you should not use them at all." Okay. This came out last week. Uh, unfortunately, a very fine Jewish woman here had just driven to, to France to buy supplies for-- which she's then resells to-- And she bought about twelve cases of this surimi. Actually, it goes a little bit further. She had already, by one of her customers, one of the shops, had already paid her for this surimi which she has had in the back of her van, which she just bought. And the day after, twenty-four hours later, this, this notice comes out. So here it comes. Here is, here's the question. Um, does she have to refund the money to this store which is buying from her these cases

29:57 of this surimi? Let's, let's take the question more... Let's, you know, uh... Question is, if you sold something, if you sold a product which is not kosher, totally, you're totally innocent. You did not-- You wouldn't expect it to know about it. But the point, it turns out it's treif. Let's say if I was a farmer and I sold you a chicken, and you sh- and it looked perfectly okay. You took it to the Shochat, and they shechted, then you cut it open and you see on the inside it's treif. Does the farmer-- Do I, the farmer, have to reimburse you for the chicken which I sold you? And there's no way I could know that it's got a, a hole in its pulpit. But okay. Um, so the Halacha is that you do have to refund. That if you sell-- Here you have one who sell-- shechted a-- And this is from Mishnah M'gital d'Nechesin Mishpat. You sold a cow. So you shechted a cow, and you sold it, and then you discover it's treif. So then if people have eaten, you're gonna have to reimburse them even for what they've eaten. If you sell something which is also Min HaTorah, you're gonna have to reimburse your customers even after they've eaten. If you sell-- Sif Gimmel says, if you sell something which is also Midrabbanan, then if the food is still i-i-in existence, then you have to take it back and re-- a-and cancel the sale. If it's-- If they've already eaten, then you

31:32 don't have to reimburse. But for sure, so long as the pro-product is, is, is ex- in existence, then the customer has every right to give it back to the, to the supplier. I'm going to digress for a moment and tell you a story. It's a very interesting story that there was in the Rov in-- I m- I might have told this story about, on this forum, but never mind. Rov in Chabad, Rav Schneur Gaon. Elderly man, and there's someone who comes to his house to ask a Shailen. Whilst he's there, there's another man who also is waiting. There's a woman inside with Rav Schneur, with the Rov. And eventually, after twenty minutes, he told her what he told her, and she went out. Meanwhile, the other fellow, the other man who had waited for twenty minutes, when the woman left, he also left. So the one who's telling the story says, "I was intrigued. You've waited twenty minutes, and then when you got a chance to go in, then you go and leave." So when he met him on Shabbos, in Shul. So kind of, "Yes, I'm just curious. What, what happened then?" So the, the, the other man says, "I'll tell you what happened. I, um, I learned to Temimim, et cetera. But recently, I had an Esora to go to another place to get training." Whether it's in, uh, some other t-- some tr- uh, training in, in, uh, academics or something. "And I wrote to the Rebbe, and the Rebbe told me

33:25 to ask Rav Gaon. So I went to Rav Gaon. So I was waiting. Then when I hear... I can hear through the door, or the door is open, and there's this chicken on the table. And I hear Rav Gaon speaking to the chicken. 'Hindele, Hindele,' he says, 'I'm sure your balabos gave you healthy food. He gave you as much as he could. You went to another elsewhere, and you ate something which is not good, and that's why you got a ho- you got a nail inside in, in the pulpit. And that's why, unfortunately, you're treif. But had you stayed by, by your... Had you not gone and eaten food by pastured elsewhere, you, you would have been okay.'" So the man said, "I heard what the, the Rov was saying to the chicken. I already had my answer to the Rebbe's... You know, my question to the Rebbe, that I, uh, should not be going to pasture elsewhere." Um, nice story. Um, right. Someone's asked, coming back to our Shailen, what about the woman's own money? Yes. So does the fish company have to refund the money of the woman who bought the twelve cases? So in principle, they should, yes. They would have to. The, um... But not everyone follows the Halacha. And I, I said to her that she's entitled to a refund, but she was a bit, um, skeptical whether they would. They would say, "Uh, who cares?" And whatever. They're not, they're not necessarily, uh, mamish, uh, very frum people who

35:04 would be-- honor this, this Halacha. So but she was-- We're all, um, very impressed, actually. She just accepted that's the Halacha and yeah. So I, I, I, uh, gave her Habaracha, that Hashem should reimburse her, uh, her loss with, with the, with, with, uh, with interest. Hashem's allowed to give interest. Okay, let's move on. So now where are we holding? Question number seven, which I don't have, I don't have an answer to that. That, the, that is a woman asked me on Friday. She has been teaching in high school for decades, and so she's paid thirty pounds an hour. Occasionally, she needs to take off, and so she'll take in a substitute. She'll take a substitute, a, a, a Sem, uh, girl who just left Sem a year ago. For this girl, she can pay her fifteen pounds an hour. So she's paid by the, she's paid by the school thirty pounds an hour. Her substitute is getting fifteen pounds an hour. So does she... Is she entitled to keep the difference, or does she have to reimburse the Sem-- the, the school? So I discussed it with her. I asked her, does she-- So I couldn't find this question. Uh, but so I'm just saying, saying in Svaros. First of all, there's no secret here because the directorship of the school know when a teacher takes off and puts in a substitute. So she tells the head, uh, head, uh, teacher that I'm bringing a substitute. There's no, there's no secret. Um, so this

36:42 idea of who's paying her, et cetera, is not a secret. I also asked her, who's taking responsibility? Who's making sure what's to be taught? Who's gonna be testing on the material? It's not just the, uh, the hour we just stand in front of the cl- the class. There's also planning and there's, um, et cetera. So she says, of course, she takes responsibility. So I felt if that's the case, she's allowed to keep the, uh, she's allowed to keep the, uh, the difference. But it's for her broad, uh, overall responsibility. I, I don't have a source for that, so I'm just saying a spot. Okay. So what's on the written-- on the screen it says number seven, it's actually number eight on our list, and that is whether you're allowed to... You have, let's say, a non-Jewish decorator, and he wants to come on Shabbos to pick up his equipment. He wants to... Are you allowed to allow a goy to come to your property on Shabbos to take stuff out? Now, a variation on that, more common, let's say if you have a goy-- Uh, sorry, if you bought stuff on Amazon. And so you bought stuff and, and then you want to return it. So the Amazon, um, truck driver comes on Shabbos. Is he allowed to take a box out of your premises on Shabbos? So this is a variation of the same question. So someone asked me this, and at first I was thinking that it's not okay. Then I looked into

38:03 it, and actually you can read it over here. It says that you should not give a goy... A goy comes to your house, you can give him food, as much as he could eat in your house, but you shouldn't give him other stuff. This is in Shema She'ein Chafetz. You shouldn't give him other stuff, which is normal for him to carry it out, to carry out of your premises. It looks like you're giving him stuff to carry out, so as if it's, as if you're sending him on a delivery mission, which is not allowed on Shabbos. But then the Shulchan Aruch continues. When it is said, if it belongs to you. If it belongs to a goy, you are allowed to give him to the goy to take out of your premises. Even though it looks like you're giving him to do so, it doesn't matter because he's not carrying it for himself. Rather, he's doing it... So he's not carrying it for you, for the Yid. He's carrying it for yourself. And important is the chafetz doesn't belong to the Yid. So a goy is allowed to carry out. So in our first example of the decorator wants to take out his ladder and his buckets, whatever, out of your premises on Shabbos, the answer is he is allowed to take out his stuff on your premises. That's clear. With the, with the returns to Amazon, I'm not totally convinced that it's identical, uh, Halacha. Who do, who do they belong to until now

39:40 when you're returning goods? Is it, is it, is it... Are they doing it for you? Are they doing it for the, for the provider, for the, for the, uh, seller? I'm not, I'm not totally convinced one way or the other. Okay. Let's move on. So now a teacher, school teacher is asking me that... She's teaching Kids of Shulchan Aruch, and it comes up in Siman Mem Beis. It says, "He's talking about the, uh, etiquette at the table, to eat in a, in a respectable way, and the table should be clean, and it should be covered nicely, even though what you're having to eat is just something very simple." Now, you look around, very few people are particular. But every time they have something to eat, they have a, say, tablecloth. So I said to her, my response to her was that in the times when this was written, people had rough... A table was made of rough wood, and it wasn't necessarily so clean. Therefore, it was a standard thing to, as respect... It was respectable to cover with a tablecloth. Baruch Hashem, nowadays, we have Formica or things like that, where the table could be, uh, very, very clean. Uh, cleaner than what the, than what their tablecloths back, back, back then. Okay. I was still intrigued. The Kids of Shu-Shulchan Aruch doesn't make up this kind of stuff. If he got it, he got it from somewhere. He writes that he got it from somewhere. So I found it in the Biur Hatev

41:16 in Siman Kuf Ayin, which didn't have a proper reference where it took it from. Eventually, I have a reference to the Shalah. And with a search engine, I was able to find where it is in the Shalah. So here you have in the Shalah, in, um, Shaar Oisios, I believe, in Eis Kedushah, Meschuch. And he says, "He's borrowing the term obviously from, um, from..." But since the be-- the shulchan is a table, is a base for which is what we'll discuss in a moment. Therefore, it should be covered, it should be clean. And then he goes on, and he says, "The Korban, like a Korban. This, this table is like a Mizbeach, like the Korban is to serve Hashem." Um, and so the... Then he says, "In the Korban itself or the Mizbeach," so the main Korban is But then there's also, there's the side, there's the sidekicks, the There's also the various organs which are burnt on the Mizbeach. Then he says something about the column of wind. It comes from... I looked it up in the Zohar. The column of, of smoke, sorry. The column of smoke of the Korban would sometimes veer towards the north. And that says the Zohar, that is because of the Like a That's it. So often that's why sometimes the smoke would go in the direction of the north. And so he says, "Similarly, at the table, push away the schmutz, the, the Ki Tzoah, which is a клиפה." In other words, there is going to be...

43:00 At the table, there's gonna be parts which are gonna be elevated, there's gonna be parts which are gonna be rejected. Okay. So whilst I'm looking, so I'm browsing, I see some fascinating stuff over here. First of all, this is the piece before He says about eitz mar'ol. Now, the word eitz mar'ol is written also by not demolishing, not, um, uprooting or chopping down a fruit tree. Um, but then he said-- Also, it's mentioned in, um, by, uh, by-- In the Gan Eden, yeah? Eitz mar'ol. So he says the word mar'ol is the same letters as ein kol. Ein kol ho. The tree which Adam originally ate from, which also, also Chatzos, uh, um, that wasn't-- that didn't work out good, yeah? But the eitz mar'ol, ein kol ho, it's a source of all, all, all, um, bracha. Then he says the name Yud Hei Vav Hei. So Yud times Hei and Hei times Yud is fifty, and fifty is equals a hundred. Then Vav Hei is six times five and five times six is thirty, and thirty equals sixty. So hundred and sixty is a gematria of eight. So you, uh, so he has here the idea of eight is, has got a, a somehow a gematria of Yud Hei Vav Hei. Then he says the word zer kevi. Zer kevi, the Rosh HaTeiv is for zer ha-shulchan asher lifnei Hashem. At the table which is before Hashem, this is, is like we're service of Hashem. Then he continues, the nochach, because we're talking about

44:36 the, uh, the tree with Adam HaRishon. So if the tree, if the food at the table is eaten in the wrong way, so then the word shulchan becomes l'nochach. That's like following the snake. But if the shulchan is used, used in the right way, then it's l'choshen, which is like the kedusha which is carried by the Kaneh Gogol. And then the shulchan, in the proper way, becomes like a, a mizbeach for atonement. And then he has the famous lotion, the Kohanim are eating or Baalim is escaping. It says in the Gemara that the Karbonas, Korban Chatot, et cetera, Kodesh Kadashim, the Kohanim are eating the meat, and the owners are given atonement through this. So he explains this on a deeper level, that this is alluding to a neshamas, which they have a gilgul in the food. And if you eat in a proper way, so then you are like the Kohanim who's taking the food and eating it. And the Baalim is the food, and the, and the nutriments in the food are going to be elevated by eating those foods, the Shem Shamayim. Just before going further, my wife tells me that her Zayde, Pinchas Sudak, um, would-- was want to say when he gave, he gave some food, "Zein meiler," uh, gave some food, "Elevate this piece of food." That was his, the way he spoke. He was, you know, he do learned a lot of Likutei Torah, et cetera. And so colloquially, you know, give him some food. He gave someone

46:05 some food, zein, zein meiler, uh, this, elevate this food. Our last question for today is about having a coffee at Starbucks. Now, um, no one asked me the question, but I was learning Kitzur Shulchan Aruch this week. We have a weekly, uh, women's shiur on Tuesday morning. And it struck me there's something which I, uh, I, I possibly have said differently in the past, and I want to go through this carefully. So we have... We know there's Bishul Akum and Pas Akum, et cetera. There's also Shechor shel Akum. The Shechor shel Goyim. And you can see here in the second paragraph on this, the first piece for the Shulchan Aruch, it says that Shechor shel kusim, beer, whether it's beer from, uh, dates or, well, or barley, uh, me'also mishum chatzons. One should not be drinking alcohol of Goyim. Just a second. Ve'eini osa elav bimkom mechiras. The issue of having alcohol b- of Goyim is in the venue where it's sold. So to, for you to go into a pub and to have a glass of beer isn't just a sin. Amalim heivi hashechel veiseh sheseveshom. If you bring the beer home, that's okay. She'ikah hagezeirah shema yuset etzleh. The main thing here is not to come start, uh, dining with the Goy, et cetera. Even on this, if, if I remember correctly, it's not so widespread. But, uh, this is what it's talking about. To have a glass of beer, of alcohol in a venue or in a Goyshe venue where it's being

47:42 sold. So now let's now read. Having understood that, we're gonna go now read the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch. As I said, this is in Siman Lamed Ches. I didn't say. Siman Lamed Ches, Sif Yod Beis. Shechor shel tvuor shel devas. Um, that beer from grain or from honey is Nojei'a bo yahrtsa. It's, it's, it's broadly, uh, people are lenient to drink it even bebayit shebechor es ha-akum, um, even a-at the venue where it's sold. It's not a problem of Bishul Akum because the grain is bottled, main thing is the water. But then you have to also investigate whether the, this beverage has been made with, with, um, lees, whatever, from wine. That's the whole whiskey, um, sherry casks, uh, story. Okay. B'mokom sheysra eilem bezalzelim mikilim beyayin shel akum. But if it's a place where Eden Ar lacks and they have, they use Goyshe wine. Yesh l'baal nefesh l'hachmir atzmo gam b'shefer. So a person should be machmir also not to drink beer in a Goyshe venue because you can see what's the drift. People should, uh, be more careful. Then he goes on. This is where the point which I wanted to share. Be'inyan shesis ahs cafe. Having a cup of coffee, b'lo cholov. We're talking about black coffee because with wh- milk is for sure also... V'chein shokolade ve'te eitz l'akum. To have a drink of coffee or tea or chocolate in a Goyshe venue. Shoyim menafshoi yarḥikheh et atzmo. A person who's more conscientious or spiritual way should keep away from this. And

49:28 this is quotes from Piskei Teshuva. And then he says there are those who Mati b'derech arai. If it's an ad hoc, yes, but not b'derech kviyus. So there's a difference in my mind, having read this piece of Kitzur Shulchan Aruch. We'll discuss it soon. There's a difference if I'm on the plane. Um, I'm not b'derech kviyus on the plane. Um, I haven't reached that badrega yet, yeah? So it's derech arai. So can I have a cup of coffee on the plane? The answer is yes. Um, people are continually asking this. They're worried that they wash up the kettles in, in, uh, with, with, with treif things. I, I highly doubt it, yeah. So, okay. B'derech kviyus. But let's say I want to, I want to do a shiur with someone. Let's meet That is something with the Derach Avias, and I think that would come into what the Kitz Shinarach is saying, that Shemiyan Afshoi should keep away because it's Derach Avias. Now let's take a look where it's coming from. So this is, again, this is Yerdeis in Kufiyad Dalet. And talking about having a beverage like beer, Bemokim Ichirasoi, quotes the Bar Heitei from the previous Bar Heitei of Marit. Um, right. Then the, there's, there's a Gemara which says that a balne- that a person who's a Choshev Eid shouldn't have, um, Chamin by Goyim. And the Pri Chodos here says that's the Bahalacha, that's okay. Then he quotes the Ponim Eires, who disagrees with the Pri Chodos. And he says the

51:04 Hetef of beer is not because of what was said, that the Tvuah is bottled to the water. The main thing is their beer wasn't a Choshev drink. It wasn't Oylal Shul Chamlach. Or that people would not invite someone to come over for a beer. That's what the Bach says. Aval Bekaveh, this is Ponim Eires' writing. Aval Bekaveh, but with coffee, Eineinu Royois, we see She'oil Al Shul Chamlachim, that it is a Choshev drink. It is used at a Choshev do. Ome Zam Nia Layu, and people would invite someone over for a cup of coffee. Vachen Roy Leval Nefesh, She'oi Lishto is Kaveh Etei, Me'eve Kechov, etc. Therefore, there is reason to be Machmir, not to, uh, have, uh, coffee or tea, tea from Goyim. And the Kitz Shinarach has made this, uh, distinction between Derach Arai, as I said, on a plane or, etc., uh, you're traveling, that's Derach Arai. Derach Vias, but as I say, to choose this as a venue, I'm going to go to Starbucks to have a coffee. Um, not from when you're traveling. This is just, you know, uh, to chill out, as they say. So then that would be a Derach Vias Lechaire, and doesn't seem to be oc- oc- okay, at least for the Sheimi Nafshi, yeah? I just want to finish off that someone pointed out last week we had this, um, little story about a man wearing a watch on Yogtiv. And, uh, it has here that, that on Top Sheyud Base, that's 1951, the Rebbe

52:42 asked, "What time is it?" And Rav Harlech, um, was nearby and took off his watch. And the Rebbe said to him, "You don't know that in the Babich we don't wear watches on Shabbos, so now only should..." So I was, I'd thought that it would refer to Meir, Meir Harlech, Alav Hashalom. Someone pointed out to me that he was all of 16 years old at the time. I didn't know exactly his, uh, you know, his birth date. So the likelihood is that it was actually his father, Rav Mordechai Harlech, Alav Hashalom, who was a Choshev HaRav. He lived in Crown Heights. He'd come to the Rebbe's farbrengens. So it makes much more sense. And if they refer to him as Harav Harlech in, in, uh, then they wouldn't refer to a 16-year-old boch as Harav. So it makes more sense that it was his father. And, uh, just so thank you for, Shloime Weinstein for correcting that. Um, right. So that's what I, what I have for tonight. So I'm gonna wish you all a good evening, and we should hear a good Shabbos. And, uh, Shabbos Mevorchim. So we should herald in month of Brocha. Adika, we should just hear, have Yeshuah, hear Yeshuahs of Klal Yisrael, especially the Shivuyim and the, uh, Mayolim. Should come home safely and carry out their mission of Klal Yisrael. And we should have a Gu'ul HaShleima, Moshiach Tzefenu, Vemeir Gamenu Amesh. Kol Tuv.