SPECIAL EDITION: 10 of Tebet and Yom haShoa

Today is a fast day. We remember the siege of the hoy City, Yerushalaim, in the year 586 BCE, at the time of our first Bet haMiqdash (see  here ).

On the 10th of Tebet there are only two prohibitions: eating and drinking. NO additional limitations apply, such as the prohibition of wearing leather shoes, working, driving, washing the body, etc.

Most contemporary Rabbis (R. E. Melamed, Rab O. Yosef) authorize to wash one’s mouth or brush one’s teeth in this Ta’anit, when necessary, provided you will be very careful to lower your head as to avoid swallowing water unintentionally.

THE FAST ENDS TODAY at 5:13 PM (NYTime )

In modern Israel, the 10th of Tebet is also recognized as the day of the Kaddish Haklaly. According to the Chief rabbinate of Israel, today we should light a remembrance candle in the Synagogue and we recite the Hazkara le Chalale Hashoa after Tora reading and all those whose parents are not alive should say the Kaddish Yatom (luach dinim uminhaguim 5772, pages. 55,109).

This point requires more explanation.

In 1949, and before the day of Yom HaShoa was established, the Chief rabbinate of Israel decided that the Tenth of Tebet should be the national remembrance day for the victims of the Holocaust. They recommended traditional Jewish ways of remembering the dead, such as the study of Mishna Mikvaot, saying Tehilim lighting a candle and a public massive recitation of the Kaddish for those Holocaust victims whose names, and date of death remains unknown. Fasting, the most common Jewish expression of sorrow, was already prescribed for this day.

In Israel many people felt that the horror of the Holocaust should be remembered on its own, and a special day should be dedicated to the Shoa victims’ memory.   “For the Holocaust survivors there was only one day worthy of being a memorial anniversary for the Holocaust–April 19, the beginning day of the Warsaw ghetto revolt the greatest revolt of them all, the uprisings that had held the Nazis at bay for a longer period than the great French army”  (I. Greenberg). That is how the 27 of Nissan was chosen to commemorate Yom haShoa. Yom HaShoah was inaugurated in 1953, by a law signed by the Prime minister of Israel David ben Gurion.

Since then and in practical terms, we have two public days in which we mourn for the Holocaust: Yom haShoa, the official day, and ‘asara betebet, in which we fast, and say the Kaddish Klaly to remember all those unknown victims of the Nazi genocide.

Who is exempted from fasting?
 
Minors: boys under 13 and girls under 12 years old are completely exempted from fasting.
 
Nursing women: According to the Sephardic Minhag, after giving birth women are exempted from fasting for 24 months, even if they are not actually nursing their baby.
 
Pregnant women, especially after the first 3 months, are exempted from fasting.
 
A person who feels sick, for example, flu or fever or one who has a chronic disease, for example, diabetes, should not fast.
 
Elders should consult with their physicians if the fast will not affect their health. If it will, they are exempted (and in some cases, prohibited) from fasting.



Days of Fasting: 10th of Tebet (Part 2/3)

 

Yesterday we mentioned two of the three events that are remembered in ‘asara betebet (see here). It is important to clarify that the main reason we fast on this day is specifically because of the siege of Yerushalaim. The other two tragedies are brought to our national memory because they roughly coincide on the same date.
3. Approximately in the year 300 BCE, on the 8th of Tebet, King Ptolemy forced 70 Jewish scholars to translate the Hebrew Bible into Greek. The 70 scholars were placed in separated rooms and yet, they all translated the Biblical text in the same exact way. Although it was done by Rabbis, the Septuagint is not considered a translation which follows rabbinical tradition. The official Jewish translation is Targum Onqelos (=Targum Didan) done by Jews for Jews. As explained in Talmud Yerushalmi (Megila 9) the authors of the Septuagint deliberately deviated from a Jewish normative rendering and in many cases, adapted the Biblical text to the Greek mentality, values and sensitivities to please the monarch.
As a whole, this translation of the Tora was considered a tragic event. Why? Because the new Greek Bible advanced the agenda of the Hellenist Jews who sought to bring Greek culture into Jewish life. Now they were able to manipulate the Torah for their own purposes.
Eventually, the Septuagint paved the way to create many new non-Jewish “Biblical” religions. Unlike pagan cults, these new religions were supposedly grounded on the Jewish Scripture! The Septuagint was now interpreted and reinterpreted to justify whatever any monarch or any priest wished to say: “In the name of God”. Ironically, based on this translation and later on a latin version (Vulgata), many religions pretended for centuries to teach to us, the recipients of the Tora, what the “the true religion,” is and what is “the true spirit of the Bible.”….
In our Community we begin the fast tomorrow morning at 6.00 AM and we end it at 5:13 PM (NY time).


Days of Fasting: 10 of Tebet (Part 1/3)

 

This coming Thursday, January 5th 2012, corresponds to the 10th. of Tebet, a fast day, which commemorates three tragedies that happened to the Jewish people.
1. The main tragedy we remember in this day is the onset of the siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylonia. The siege of the city signaled the beginning of the battle that ultimately destroyed Yerushalayim and the Bet haMikdash in the year 586 BCE. Hundreds of thousands of Jews were killed or sent as captives to the Babylonian exile. The date of the Tenth of Tebet was recorded by the prophet Yechezkel, who was already in Babylonia, together with the first group of Jews exiled by Nebuchadnezzar 11 years earlier than the actual destruction of the Temple.
2. On this day we also remember the death of Ezra haSofer.  Approximately in the year 516 BCE  a group of Jews (roughly 40 thousand) came back to Eretz Israel with the blessing of the Persian Emperor Cyrus, led by Nechemia and Ezra the Scribe. Ezra had the responsibility to reeducate the Jews who, after more than two generations, had forgotten their language, their Tora and laws, and adopted many customs and values from the Babylonian culture. Ezra formed the Anshe Kenesset haGedola, the first “Jewish Congress” in the absence of our own King, composed of scholars and prophets. They established many rulings to maintain or retrieve Jewish values. For example, the  days of Tora reading, the text of the Amida (main prayer), and many decrees against intermarriage. Ezra was considered by the Rabbis as the historic link between the written Tora and the oral Tora. Together with Nechemia, they began the building of the second bet haMiqdash. Ezra died on a 9th of Tebet. He was regarded by our Rabbis as a second to Moshe Rabbenu.
(To be continued…)
READ: Jewish History, Ezra and Nechemia.


Modern American Rabbis on celebrating New Year’s Day

We have written in previous HOTD about the various views of modern orthodox rabbis regarding the celebration of different American holidays (see here). All orthodox rabbis are very strict in forbidding, for example, the celebration of Halloween in any way, while most would not oppose the celebration of Thanksgiving. The question is: to what extent a particular Holiday is considered ‘a religious’ celebration? Halloween has clear origins in Pagan culture, and some of those customs are still followed in its celebration today. While Thanksgiving is more of an historical celebration.
What about New Year’s day?
According to Christian tradition, January 1st, is the day of the circumcision of Yeshu (eight days counting from December 25), when his name was given to him. 
Five centuries ago, Rabbi Terumat Hadeshen and Rama, both living in Christian countries, classified New Year’s day as a religious gentile holiday (Darkhe Moshe and Rama, Yoreh Deah 148:12). Terumat Hadeshen refers to January First as “the eighth day of Christmas.” He clearly viewed this holiday as ‘religious’ in nature. Most Rabbis –myself included– would oppose the ‘celebration’ of New Year’s Day based on this consideration.
Other Rabbis, however, have a more lenient view, because in their opinion New Year’s has lost entirely its religious overtones and can be rationally explained as a celebration of a new civil calendar’s year.
Rabbi Moshe Feinstein (Iggrot Moshe, Even Haezer 2:13) writes with regard to New Year’s: “On the question of celebrating any event on a holiday of Gentiles, if the holiday is based on religious beliefs [such as Christmas], such celebrations are prohibited …. even without intent, it is prohibited because of marit ayin . . . The first day of the year for them [January 1] and Thanksgiving is not prohibited according to law, but pious people [ba’ale nefesh] should be stricter [and avoid its celebration].”
In Rabbi Michael Broyde’s opinion (see below) the status of New Year’s day has changed in the last three hundred years. In contemporary America there is little religious content on New Year’s Day, and while there might be many problems associated with the way some celebrate it, he thinks that few would classify it as a religious holiday, since there is a clear secular reason to celebrate the beginning of the new calendar year. New Year’s day, in his opinion has lost its status as a religious Holiday.
I would say that Rabbi Feinstein’s words articulate what we implicitly practice in our community. While one should avoid its commemoration and won’t promote any official celebration, rabbis won’t actively oppose or preach against its private celebration by individuals, as we do with regards to Halloween, for example.
Shabbat Shalom!
Candle lighting in NYC: 4:18 PM
Shabbat Ends in NYC: : 5:27
√ Click here to read Rabbi Michael Broyde’s article on New Year’s day (I have used this article in today’s HOTD for quoting sources and translations)   
√ Click here to read a very recent reaction to rabbi Broyde’s opinion on New Year’s day, by Rabbi Yair Hoffman  


Shema Israel. Pasuq 4. Declaring our love of God.

(1)And you shall teach (these words) to your children, and you shall speak of them (2) when you are sitting in your house and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down and when you rise up.
In this pasuq the Tora commands us to express our love for God with our words and speech. 
  
In the first part of this pasuq (=verse) we learn about the duties of the parents to teach their children to love HaShem with all their heart, with all their soul and with all their might. Additionally, we are told, we must speak of our love for God and prove that it is real and that it influences our conduct at all times.   Our rabbis explained that the education process of our children always takes place as mimetic (imitative) experience. They said: When (or How) does it happen that we teach our children the love of God? At the time that we convey our love of God with our words.  Not when we preach to them about loving God, but when they see us practicing it: studying Tora, praying to Him and thanking Him for all we have.  
The second part of this pasuq teaches us that love of God is an integral part of our daily lives. We should not limit our prayers and words to Him just when we are in Synagogue. The pasuq emphasizes that we should express our love for Him when we are sitting at home, by ourselves or with our families in the privacy of our home, but also outside home, in the street, in front of others.  Our love for God should be the first thing we declare when we get up in the morning, and the last, when we go to sleep.
A good example of expressing our love for God constantly with our words, is when we say at all times (MEANING IT!) “barukh HaShem”= “Thanks God” , or “be’ezrat haShem” =”with God’s help”.


√ TRY ALSO THIS:   
The SHEMA ISRAEL  by Rabbi Hayim Pereira-Mendes (1905)


Dating and Lashon haRa

 

Lashon haRa, i.e, telling something negative about somebody else, is one of the most serious prohibitions in our Tora and its effects could be devastating. Yet, there are a few instances in which we are allowed or even required to speak up to and reveal certain negative information to prevent someone else’s damage, for example, in the world of business (see here ). 
In the area of Shiddukhim (=dating) Lashon haRa might cause tremendous and long-lasting damage in the emotional and psychological life of the victims. I know many engagements which were tragically broken, because of Lashon haRa; people –friends, relatives–made negative comments about the bride or the groom, innocently or sometimes deliberately, out of jealousy or resentment. 
Still, there might be some ‘negative’  information about the bride and the groom that we know, and we believe it should be known to the other party. Should we disclose that information? 
I will summarize the matter of Lashon haRa and Shiddukhim, with the following two basic rules:
1. If you have first-hand information of a ‘serious/objective’ matter that affects the bride or groom, you can (or sometimes ‘you should’) reveal this information to the potential partner. For example, a major issue in the past, like a previous marriage; a life threatening disease, a serious mental problem, etc.  However, in other ‘subjective’ areas–where you apply your judgment more than your knowledge of certain facts, like ‘compatibility’, character, rumors, etc. you should not interfere. Different personalities might complement each other and make for beautiful marriages.
2. FOR ALL CASES, and before you say one word, PLEASE, always seek the advice of an experienced Rabbi or an expert counselor, to help you assessing if the information you have, it is indeed a ‘serious/objective’ matter which deserves to be disclosed, or if it pertains to your own subjective judgment, and therefore you need to let the bride, the groom and their families, to decide by themselvesif and when they want to reveal it.  A good advisor will also help you decide when and how to reveal the information, as well as verify if this information has been already disclosed, and you did not know about it. 
 
 
READ: “Full disclosure”. Dating advice from Aish.com


Bioethics: Abortion and Jewish Law (1 of 4).

The case of abortion primarily discussed by the Talmud refers to what we call today “therapeutic abortion”, i.e., when the life of the pregnant mother is in danger, and the doctors estimate that the only way to save her life is by taking out/killing the unborn baby.  Independently of how Jewish Law considers the status of an unborn baby–we will analyze that later on–in this case, the early Talmudic sources (Mishna Aholot, 7:6, written ca.200 CE) already established unequivocally that if necessary, the unborn baby should be sacrificed in order to save the mother’s life.  The Mishna understand that this is a case of rodef (“chaser”, a potential killer) and therefore the principle of “self defense” is applied: If  A is attacked by B, if necessary, A can kill B to save his life (habba lehorgekha, hashkem lehorgo, Sanhedrin 72a). The baby, ironically, is viewed as an “involuntary” rodef. 
The Talmud analyzes the Mishna’s statement and asks what happens when the baby is actually at the very process of birth. Should we still apply the same criteria of self defense and allow to sacrifice the life of the baby to save the life of the mother? After all, in this extremely difficult situation, the mother is also a rodef toward the unborn baby! The answer of the rabbis, in very simple terms, is that before the baby is born, the life of the mother has priority, because the life of the baby is still a ‘potential life’. But once the baby is born, i.e. when at least the head and /or the majority of the body is already outside, his life could not be sacrificed, and both mother and baby are in an equal situation. The doctors should try their best to save both lives.
(Adapted from penine halakha, Rabbi E. Melamed, liqutim B, page 241-242).   



JEWISH CREATIVITY AT ITS BEST 🙂 
Jacob meets Esav… and a surprising alternative ending  


Shema Israel: Pasuq 3: “Words and the heart”

In previous weeks we’ve learned from Verse One the principles of Jewish faith (see here) and from Verse Two our duty to love our God (see here). Today we will analyze Verse Three. 
 “And these words which I command you this day, shall be upon your heart”.
The words which are to be upon our hearts are the words: “You shall love HaShem your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.”
What does it mean: “that these words should be over the heart”? It means that love for God must rule over our hearts and shape our conduct. Merely saying ‘with words’ that we love Him is not enough. Our actions, what we do, must prove our words and feelings. Same as in a relation between husband and wife, feelings only count when they are expressed by compatible actions.   When our words conflict with our deeds, what count is our deeds. Children know this better than anyone else. They are the best polygraphs! They don’t listen to what parents say: the see what we parents do.  We don’t need words to transmit religious values to our children. They will not necessarily follow our preaching, but they will surely imitate our doing.
These words… should be over the heart… Loving haShem with ALL our heart means that we should avoid wrong thoughts–like excessive material ambitions– and wrong feelings–like jealousy or hatred– to take over our heart. Wicked thoughts and wrong values drive love for God out of our hearts. So, even when we cannot help wrong thoughts and negative feelings coming to our heart, we can, and must, prevent them remaining in our hearts.
  
(Adapted from R. Hayim Pereira-Mendes: “Jewish Religion Ethically Presented”)
Shabbat Shalom!
Candle lighting in NYC: 4.10 PM
Shabbat ends in NYC: 5:18 PM
  


Rabbi Isaac Lampronti (1679–1756)

 

Rabbi Isaac Lampronti was born in Ferrara, Italy.  He studied Torah under the great Italian rabbis of his generation: Manoach Provençal and Isaac Chayim Cantarini. In addition, he studied philosophy and medicine at the University of Padua.  Padua was an important center for Hebrew studies by virtue of its rabbinical academies and the fact that Jews were drawn there from all over Europe to study in its university, which was open to Jews.
At the age of 22, he began to teach in the talmud torah of the Italian community. He introduced many improvements in the curriculum, insisting on the teaching of the humanities concurrently with the study of Torah. In 1718 he was ordained rabbi and in 1743 was appointed head of the Yeshivah – a position which gave him the status of senior rabbi of the city.
Rabbi Lampronti practiced as a physician. He was an outstanding doctor who gave his services for free to those of limited means.  He had a great reputation as physician, and his contemporaries generally added to his name the epithet “the famous physician.”
Rabbi Lampronti’s main reputation, however, rests on the fact that he wrote the first Jewish Encyclopedia Pachad Yitzchaq. Pachad Ytzchaq  is arranged alphabetically, each article including material from the Mishnah, the Talmud, the posekim, the rishonim, and the responsa literature.
In 1872, the city of Ferrara publicly honored the memory of Rabbi Lampronti. A stone tablet was placed on the house in which he had lived bearing the following inscription: “Abitò in questa casa Isacco Lampronti, nato nel MDCLXXIX., morto nel MDCCLVI. Medico Teologo tra i dotti celebratissimo. Onorò la patria. Riverenti alla scienza alcuni cittadini posero MDCCCLXXII.”
See here the First Edition of Pachad Yitzchaq, Venecia, 1750 


The 13 principles of Judaism: 3. God does not have a body

 

“The Creator, blessed be His name, has no bodily form, and bodily conditions cannot affect Him; He cannot be compared to nothing whatsoever.”
Attributing to God a human image, figure or condition is called: “anthropomorphism” and it is one of the most characteristic features of pagan religions. The pagan gods are born and die, have desires, fight with other gods, and have bodies. They are in a sense a reflection of those humans who conceive them.
The Tora, numerous times uses references to what seems to be God’s body,  like “haShem’s eyes watch over the land of Israel” but our tradition explains unequivocally that those are just figures of speech, metaphors, and should not be taken literally.
While other religions conceived their gods in the image of humans, our Tora says that humans were created in the image of God  (Bereshit 1:27). Let me explain this concept. God is the epitome of power, which means that He can do whatever He decides to do, without being pushed or constrained by any exterior impulses or even motives. This is why we call Him “Almighty”. Of all creatures of earth, only humans have the power of “freedom of choice”, choosing between right and wrong. Humans resemble God in that they are not driven by blind uncontrollable impulses, like animals. Like God, humans have the power of making moral choices.  The more we exercise this power the more we resemble God, and the less we exercise this power and let ourselves be driven by our impulses, the less we resemble God.
In the beautiful words of Rabbi Hayim Pereira-Mendes: “When the Torah says we are created in the image of God, it means not in a bodily but in a spiritual likeness. To be like God we must lead lives that are Godlike or Godly. We are like Him when we exercise loving-kindness, justice and righteousness and take delight in these things.”