DOCSLIB.ORG

Sephardic Halacha Center

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Sephardic Halacha Center S E P H A R D I C Family, Business, & Jewish Life Through the Prism of Halacha VOLUME 5779 • ISSUE XVI • PARASHAT BESHALAH • A PUBLICATION OF THE SEPHARDIC HALACHA CENTER somewhat of a stretch, being that if the fire THE caused damage far away from the original place where it started there is almost certain- and CALIFORNIA ly some obstructions in between, and it is un- likely that all the damage caused by the fire WILDFIRES: was done through a direct path. Part 2: More on who is responsible to Another factor that we need to keep in A Parashat Beshalah Audio Shiur Summary by Dayan Shlomo Cohen pay for wildfires and for what? mind is that one is only liable for the dam- age caused by his fire if then fire was spread Rabbi Yosef Greenwald The Hametz Index: Owning Shares through a “Ruah Metzuyah” – lit. common of Companies Dealing in Hametz ELECTRICAL FIRE: wind – or, anticipatable force. If the fire only We are not allowed to own any Hametz over In Part 1 of this series, we stated that if spread because it came into contact with Pessah. The custom in most communities to- someone lights a fire in a way that it should a “Ruah She’eina Metzuyah”, uncommon technically have been stopped before reach- day is to sell the Hametz in our possession to a wind, the igniter would not be liable because ing his friend’s property – for example, a wall non-Jew over Pessah. What happens if you own separated the two fields – all opinions would there is no reason to think that such a wind shares in companies that deal with Hametz? agree that the fire has the status of Mamon will suddenly appear and he is therefore not HaMazik (damaging via one’s “property”, considered negligent. Let us explain how corporations work. According as opposed to damaging in person) and, to law, a corporation is considered to be a sep- therefore, the exemption of Tamun (hidden In California, wind gusts that are strong arate entity, apart from the shareholders. That’s objects) would apply. However, if there was enough to cause large forest fires may not why it is also has limited liability, meaning that it nothing obstructing the path of the fire, Ribbi be everyday occurrences; however, they do Yohanan, whose view we follow, holds that is not liable for more than the value of its assets, occur sporadically and are certainly not un- the fire has the status of Adam HaMazik while its shareholders are exempt. Is such a type (damaging in person), in which case the igniter heard of. Does this satisfy the criteria of Ruah of ownership a problem of owning Hametz? is liable for all damages. Metzuyah? There are two types of corporations: a private Regarding electrical fires, there are several The Hazon Ish1 understands this to be the corporation, in which the shareholders have a variables to take into account. subject of a disagreement between Tosafot2 say and power to influence the company’s de- and Rabbenu Peretz3, who disagree whether If the electrical system was set up negligent- cisions. Such a company would be viewed by a wind that is not the norm but is not com- ly, which caused a spark to shoot out of the Halacha as a partnership and – although there pletely out of the realm of normalcy is con- faulty mechanism that led to a fire, this would would be a limited liability according to Hala- sidered a Ruah Metzuyah or not. Since the seemingly fall under the category of a fire cha – there would still be a problem of Halacha is in doubt, a contemporary Bet Din that should technically have been stopped. owning its Hametz. This is because the spark cannot cause dam- cannot obligate someone to pay compen- However, with regards to a age on its own and only creates a fire if it lands sation for a fire that only spread because of public company with on something flammable. Therefore, there is such an uncommon – but not unheard of – millions of shares, al- much room to say that everyone would agree gust of wind. though they may spotlight that such a case would fall under the catego- IS THE FIRESTARTER A MURDERER? have some ry of Mamon HaMazik, and would be subject It is clear that according to all opinions – even “voting” Even Ha’Ezer to the exemption of Tamun. Habura meets attorneys according to Resh Lakish, that Esh (damage (continued However, if someone installed wiring that via fire) is usually Mishum Mamono (and not One of the challenges inherent on back) in providing Even Haezer services, was so faulty that the entire mechanism considered as a person’s direct act) – that if is ensuring that all agreements are both went up in flames, which led to a large infer- Halachically and legally binding. To this no, this could theoretically fall under the cat- end, the Even Ha’Ezer Habura recently hosted 1 Bava Kama 5:2 Mr. John Panzer Esq. and Mr. Jeff Epstein, Esq., for a egory of Adam HaMazik and be considered 2 Bava Kama 59 presentation on the relevant legal issues. a direct result of his actions. However, this is 3 Cited in Shita Mekubetzet, ibid (continued on back) Don’t miss our upcoming Business Halacha Journal topic on Ribbit. Don’t yet receive it? Visit www.TheSHC.org, call us at 732.9300.SHC (742) or email [email protected] (continued from front pg.) someone would actually kill someone else by bat. throwing a firebomb at him, he would be la- We see from the Nimuke Yosef that on a con- The beled a murderer and would be Biblically liable ceptual level, the burning of the fire that one for the death penalty. We may ask, however, lit is considered a direct action done by him, in what the Halacha would be according to Rib- which seemingly would make him liable if the bi Yohanan if someone would light a fire that fire kills someone. This is the view of Tosafot. spread through a direct path and ultimately The Ran, though, disagrees. Bring the Daf to Life! killed somebody. Would this be categorized an Bet Din today does not mete out capital pun- act of murder? מסכת חולין ishment. What is applicable is the rule of “Kim This would seem to be a disagreement between Leh Bid’Rabbah Mineh”, which means that in 4 Tosafot and the Ran , who argue whether one a case where someone causes a loss of life – can be liable to capital punishment for death be it intentional or accidental – the Torah tells This Week's Topics caused through such an act of Adam HaMazik. us that he is not liable for monetary damages We find a similar discussion regarding the that occurred as a result of the same action. RAV YEHOSHUA GRUNWALD Hilchot Shabbat. The Nimuke Yosef famously For instance, if someone causes a car accident DAYAN, BAIS HAVAAD LAKEWOOD asks how it is permitted to put food up to cook that kills another driver and also damages his RAV YOSEF GREENWALD on a fire before the onset of Shabbat. If lighting car, Bet Din cannot hold the driver account- DAYAN, BAIS HAVAAD YERUSHALAYIM a fire burning is akin to a direct action done by able for the monetary damage. Thus, if some- RAV ELIEZER COHEN the lighter (Isho Mishum Hitzo), then when the one firebombs someone else’s house, thereby ROV OF BAIS MEDRASH TIFERES ELIEZER fire cooks food on Shabbat, it should be consid- causing a loss of life, Bet Din cannot pursue the ered as if the lighter is cooking directly on Shab- financial damages done to the house. KITNIYOS: CONCEPTS & HALACHOS דף נ"ב bat. How is this permitted? However, if the victim has some recourse, for QUESTIONABLE TREIFOS דף נ"ג He answers that, indeed, it is considered as if he example he is a business partner with the cooked on Shabbat; however, it is only forbid- fire starter and is able to be “Tofes”, hold onto, PLEASE RISE: STANDING UP FOR A CHOSSON דף נ"ד den to do an act of Melacha on Shabbat itself, funds that belong to the perpetrator, he would AND KALLA whereas this individual did no action on Shab- be allowed to keep that money5. RABBINICAL MEASURES: TO BE STRICT OR דף נ"ה LENIENT? 4 Sanhedrin 77 5 Hoshen Mishpat, Siman 4 ?TREIFOS: HAVE TIMES CHANGED דף נ"ו ?SEEING IS BELIEVING דף נ"ז (continued from front pg.) rights, they shares this may be a problem. INSPECTING FOR INSECTS דף נ"ח cannot exert This logic would also permit one to own stocks and any influence in companies that are: dealing in non-Kosher as to the run- items; open on Shabbat or lending with inter- ning of the est. The Minhat Yitzhak argues on Rav Moshe company. Rav Moshe Feinstein points to this and forbids owning even minimal amounts own any stocks, due to the other transgressions fact and permits one to own shares in such of stock. Thus, the Sale of Hametz contract involved. companies, even though they own Hametz in many places includes selling one’s stocks Pension funds also invest in stocks, and would (he understands that owning a share is merely (which would raise an issue with regards to div- be included in this issue according to the Minhat buying a portion of the profits of the compa- idends given on Pessah). According to the Min- Yitzhak. Some say that the Minhat Yitzhak would ny).
Load more

Recommended publications
  • BHHJ Print #2 Shoftim V5
    Family, Business, & Jewish Life Through the Prism of Halacha VOLUME 5778 • ISSUE XLIX • PARSHAS SHOFTIM • A PUBLICATION OF THE BAIS HAVAAD HALACHA CENTER (many men’s mikva’os don’t qualify) with all The 5777 MI YA’ALEH V’HAR the necessary prepara- on the tions. The problem is that HASHEM the lower level of tum’a, Ascending the Har HaBayis in Our Time tum’as mais, is the hard- Bring the Parsha to Life! By Rav Yosef Greenwald est to remove: it requires Adapted from a shiur by Rav Yosef Greenwald the application of aifer On Tisha B’Av this year, 1440 Jews reportedly ascended para aduma, which we TWO WITNESSES: THE TORAH STAN- Har HaBayis. cannot perform today. This DARD OF TRUTH: WHY 2>1 BUT 100=2 Prime Minister Netanyahu says Knesset members can now visit leaves us with an incur- על פי שנים עדים או על פי שלושה עדים יקום Har HaBayis, lifting a three-year ban. able inability to enter the דבר. )דברים י”ט, ט”ו( .Various organizations encourage Jews to visit Har HaBayis. Often. Azara But what does the Torah say? According to two witnesses or three witnesses Entering the Azara in a shall a matter be established. (Devarim 19:15) The Mishna (Midos 2:1) states that Har HaBayis is 500 by 500 state of tum’as mais is a amos. The dimensions of the site known by that name today are approximately 1600 feet on the west, 1550 on the east, 1050 on chiyuv kareis according A primary feature of the Bais Din system is that the north, and 900 on the south.
    [Show full text]
  • Jewish Life in Egypt
    Summer2010:Layout 1 12/05/10 7:46 AM Page 54 PhotoEssay By Ari Z. Zivotofsky and Ari Greenspan Jewish Life in Egypt The Eliyahu Hanavi Synagogue, Alexandria, Egypt, 1994. The synagogue on Nabi Daniel Street once served as the central synagogue of Alexandria. ONCE PROUD AND FLOURISHING, THE JEWISH COMMUNITIES OF EGYPT ARE TODAY ON THE VERGE OF EXTINCTION. WITH A GENEROUS RESEARCH GRANT FROM THE ORTHODOX UNION, DR. ARI GREENSPAN AND RABBI DR. ARI Z. ZIVOTOFSKY RECENTLY VISITED THE DWINDLING EGYPTIAN JEWISH COMMUNITIES OF ALEXANDRIA AND CAIRO TO OFFER HOPE AND ENCOURAGEMENT TO THE FEW REMAINING JEWS AND TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE RICH JEWISH LIFE THAT ONCE WAS. Dr. Greenspan (right) and Rabbi Dr. Zivotofsky with two of the four Egyptian policemen who ac- companied them during their visit to Alexandria. Courtesy of Ari Z. Zivotofsky 54 I JEWISH ACTION Summer 5770/2010 Summer2010:Layout 1 12/05/10 7:46 AM Page 55 ALEXANDRIA, EGYPT Even in modern times, Jewish life duration of our stay. With the rise of Is- flourished in Alexandria. Up until the lamic fundamentalism in the country, Jews have lived in Alexandria since 332 1940s, as many as 80,000 Jews lived in we were not ungrateful for the protec- BCE, shortly after the city was first Egypt, significantly contributing to the tion. (In fact, the security situation in founded. Alexander the Great encour- country culturally and economically. Egypt is such that all shuls are heavily aged Jews to move there, and they did But after the birth of Israel in 1948, and guarded at all times.) Interestingly, the in great numbers.
    [Show full text]
  • IS THERE? a Number of Reasons
    Family, Business, & Jewish Life Through the Prism of Halacha VOLUME 5779 • ISSUE XVIII• PARSHAS MISHPATIM • A PUBLICATION OF THE BAIS HAVAAD HALACHA CENTER Some batei din still will attempt to ascertain The ‘ORDER IN that the written hazmana arrived at the cor- rect address. on the THE COURT!’: Prior to issuing the hazmana, the beis din needs to hear some facts about the case for Bring the Parsha to Life! IS THERE? a number of reasons. Firstly, the hazmana must include the name Adapted from a shiur by Rav Yosef Greenwald on The Din Torah process in Parshas Mishpatim contemporary times of the tove’a, and the basic subject of the case. A defendant must be informed who is Adapted from a shiur by Rabbi Dovid Englander Eved Ivri and The Torah’s Message making the claim against him so that he may for Employees seek resolution or prepare a defense. והגישו אדוניו אל האלוהים והגישו אל הדלת או אל It is not uncommon for people to question the beis din’s procedures, action, and motives, es- Sometimes, the beis din will require that the המזוזה ורצע אדוניו את אזנו במרצע ועבדו לעולם pecially when they are first exposed to a beis hazmanah must specify the amount or the (שמות כא:ו) din as a party to a case. The first step toward item being claimed, so the defendant can understanding how and why a beis din acts Halacha recognizes two types of workers: is to attempt to see things from the perspec- choose to pay up to avoid the indignity of go- tive of a neutral party.
    [Show full text]
  • BHHJ-Chayei-Sarah
    A PUBLICATION OF THE BAIS HAVAAD HALACHA CENTER 105 River Ave. #301, Lakewood, NJ 08701 1.888.485.VAAD (8223) www.baishavaad.org [email protected] Lakewood • Midwest • Brooklyn • South Florida לע״נ הרב יוסף ישראל ב״ר משה גרוסמן זצ״ל Family, Business, and Jewish Life through the Prism of Halacha Dedicated in loving memory of VOLUME 5781 • ISSUE XXXVI • PARSHAS CHAYEI SARAH HaRav Yosef Grossman zt"l The on the Bring the Parsha to Life! Excerpted and adapted from a shiur by Dayan Yosef Greenwald PARSHAS CHAYA SARA SIGHT UNSEEN And Avraham said to his servant . but you shall go to my land and to my birthplace, DISTAFF DEMOCRACY: and you shall take a wife for my son, for Yitzchak. WOMEN’S SUFFRAGE IN Bereishis 24:2,4 The Acharonim question how Yitzchak HALACHA was permitted to have Eliezer serve as a Adapted from the writings of Dayan Yitzhak Grossman shaliach (proxy) to marry Rivkah on his behalf. After all, the Gemara (Kiddushin This year is the centennial of the ratification Hoffmann. He declared that in his opinion, 41a) states that it is forbidden to marry a of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United no objection to women voting can be raised woman without seeing her first to ensure States Constitution, which prohibits the states from traditional sources, but it is possible, that he is happy with her, and it is generally and the federal government from denying the however, that granting women the franchise accepted that the Avos kept the Torah (see, right to vote to citizens of the United States on might conflict with established custom, and e.g., Mishnah, Kidushin 72b).
    [Show full text]
  • Print Ki Tisa
    S E P H A R D I C Family, Business, & Jewish Life Through the Prism of Halacha VOLUME 5779 • ISSUE XXI • PARASHAT KI TISA • A PUBLICATION OF THE SEPHARDIC HALACHA CENTER policyholder is giving money to the partnership, STATE OF which includes other Jews, in exchange for the promise of a return with interest? and THE UNION, In my opinion, this is not a problem at all. Since every policyholder receives equal treatment, REVISITED none of them is lending to another. Were the company to go bankrupt, no policyholder would personally have to pay any other policyholder. Summary of Parasha & Halacha Shiur on Ki Tissa by Rav Yehoshua Sova The promised rate of return is nothing more Adapted from a Shiur by Rav Shmuel Honigwachs than the company declaring that it is doing so Distracted by Design: How to stay Our recent article following the Kol Kore well and on such strong financial footing that focused in our Tefillah? (rabbinic proclamation) on credit unions the cash value of each policyholder’s stake will In this Parasha we read about the sin of the (“State of the Union: May One Join PenFed certainly increase by that amount. I presented golden calf. This sin was caused by a disconnect or First Atlantic?”) prompted many questions between the Jews and Hashem, as the Gemara from readers about other entities with similar this argument to Rav Shlomo Miller shlit”a and structures to credit unions, particularly mu- he concurred. compares this to a bride leaving her Huppah for tual whole life insurance companies.
    [Show full text]
  • USHMM Finding
    http://collections.ushmm.org Contact [email protected] for further information about this collection YEHUDA MANDEL [1-1-1] THIS IS AN INTERVIEW WITH: YM - Cantor Yehuda Mandel [interviewee] NL - Nora Levin [interviewer] Interview Date - February 18, 1982, March 17, 1982, June 4, 1982 Tape one, side one: NL: Now, Cantor Mandel, would you be good enough to tell us a little about when and where you were born and a little about your family background? YM: Dr. Levin, I was born in a small town in Hungary called Csepe. NL: Can you spell that, please? YM: Yes, I will. C-S-E-P-E. Ugocsa Comidat. That's U-G-O-C-S-A Comidat. NL: That's the district? YM: The district. On March the 3rd, 1904. NL: So this was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. YM: This was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It was in the part of Hungary which was the so-called "religious" Jewish part, where we spoke Yiddish and, eh, automatically we learned two, and some of us even three languages when we were small children. Yiddish was spoken inside as soon as we closed the door. From the inside we spoke Yiddish only. As soon as we were on the outside, the language was Hungarian and in some cases the Russian, Maloruski, the Ukrainian language. NL: May I ask, why Russian? What was the Russian influence there? YM: Because there, at that part of Hungary, were many, many Ukrainians who spoke Russian, and the pressure was so big, even 50 and 100 years ago, to tear away from mainly Austro-Hungary because they felt that they can't live as nationals.
    [Show full text]
  • Vayechi Print
    S E P H A R D I C Family, Business, & Jewish Life Through the Prism of Halacha VOLUME 5779 • ISSUE XII • PARASHAT VAYEHI • A PUBLICATION OF THE SEPHARDIC HALACHA CENTER selling rights came before Rav Meir Eisen- STEPPING stadt (1670-1744), the author of Shu”t Panim Me’irot (1,78). One merchant slashed his pric- and ON THE GAS: es and was diverting all the business to him- Is it Permitted to Increase Supply to self. The other merchant claimed that this Drive Down Prices? was unfair competition. While it would seem that this case is exactly what the above Mish- Adapted from the writings of Rav Micha Cohn By Dayan Dovid Grossman shlit”a, Rosh Bet HaVaad na praised, Rav Eisenstadt made two distinc- One of the many practical ramifications of tions. He asserted, based on Rashi’s explana- Expired Directives – The Obligation sanctions in the middle east relates to the price of crude oil. This drop or increase is tion, that the high prices in the Mishna were to Fulfill the Deceased’s Wishes attributed to many factors: increased U.S. due to merchants who hoarded produce The Ramban and R’ ‘Ibn Shou’ib write (as does production of oil, lower demand from a to keep supply low and demand high. By a the Midrash) that we learn from Yaakov’s ac- slower China and Europe, manipulation of merchant lowering his prices it would force the oil market by traders, and rhetoric from tions in our Parasha that there is an obligation מצוה לקיים– Saudi Arabia that it is not going to cut output.
    [Show full text]
  • Sephardic Halacha Center
    S E P H A R D I C Family, Business, & Jewish Life Through the Prism of Halacha VOLUME 5779 • ISSUE XVII • PARASHAT YITRO • A PUBLICATION OF THE SEPHARDIC HALACHA CENTER swallow his fellow alive.” R’ Yerucham MOB RULES: Levovitz, the Mirrer Mashgiach, used to say, Does the Torah Sanction Vigilante “Within a person lies an entire zoo.” and Justice? When fear of government disappears (the lynchers are rarely punished), there is no lim- Adapted from a Shiur by Rav Yosef Greenwald it to the cruelty of which man is capable. Add a dollop of righteous indignation and you Summary of Parasha & Halacha Shiur for Parashat Yitro by Dayan Shlomo Cohen MURDER IN THE PARK have a recipe for staggering evil. Victor Melo, 16, began his afternoon listening Additionally, acting cruelly damages the ac- to music in the sprawling national park in the Partners in Crime: Stealing in Pairs tor’s personality, making him cruel (see Or Brazilian capital, Brasilia. We are commanded not to steal. According HaHayim HaKadosh, Devarim 13:18). This At some point a classmate of Victor’s, stand- to Maran, who follows the Rambam, that in- initiates a vicious circle. Each episode makes ing nearby, had her phone stolen. She thought cludes stealing from a non-Jew. However, the Victor did it and called out for help. Her the people less human and more likely to act Rama permits keeping a Hafka’at Halva’a (for- friends, assisted by onlookers from whom a cruelly in the future, so the society gets pro- pair of sunglasses had been taken earlier, ran gotten debt) or mistake of a Goy, unless there is gressively worse.
    [Show full text]
  • Tikun Olam, with All the Letters Mentioned Above
    Battle For the Truth A Documentary of the Struggle of the Minchas Elazar and Other Rabbanim Against Agudath Israel and the Zionist Movement Index by Name (All the rabbis listed below signed letters and proclamations against Agudah and against Zionism) Rabbi Abraham Joseph Greenwald of Uzhgorod, Ukraine Rabbi Aryeh Leibush Halberstam of Sanz, Poland Rabbi Abraham Joshua Freund of Interdam, Hungary Rabbi Aryeh Leib Alter of Gur, Poland, author of Sfas Emes Rabbi Asher Lemel Spitzer of Kirchdorf, Slovakia Rabbi Asher Zelig Greenzweig of Dalha, Hungary Rabbi Abraham of Sochatchev, Ukraine, author of Avnei Nezer Rabbi Abraham M. S. Frankel, president of the Orthodox Office in Pest, Hungary Rabbi Elazar Shapiro of Lanszut, Poland Rabbi Elazar Halevi Rosenfeld of Ospicen, Poland Rabbi Asher Meyer Halberstam of Bochnia, Poland Rabbi Aaron Abraham Zlotky of Jerusalem, Palestine Rabbi Abraham Aminoff of Jerusalem, Palestine Rabbi Elijah Moses Maaravi of Jerusalem, Palestine Rabbi Aaron Teitelbaum of Volova, Romania Rabbi Elazar Shapiro of Kiviashad, Hungary Rabbi Elazar Reinman of Bitchkoff, Romania Rabbi Aaron Zevi Kestenbaum of Aulik, Hungary Rabbi Ben Zion Sneiders of Rab, Hungary Rabbi Baruch Wiesner of Batya, Hungary Rabbi David Schlussel of Mukachevo, Czechoslovakia Rabbi David Dov Meisels of Satoraljaujhely, Hungary Rabbi David Elimelech Weiss of Szkernizsa, Poland Rabbi David Frankel of Neflecovitz, Slovakia Rabbi David Schreiber, president of the Galician Kollel in Arislav, Germany Rabbi David Zevi Krelenstein of Jerusalem, Palestine Rabbi
    [Show full text]
  • Sephardic Halacha Center
    S E P H A R D I C Family, Business, & Jewish Life Through the Prism of Halacha VOLUME 5779 • ISSUE XV • PARASHAT BO • A PUBLICATION OF THE SEPHARDIC HALACHA CENTER number of important Halachic differences PAYING between the two classifications, which will be very pertinent to the California wildfires. and WITH FIRE: The Halachot of Esh are discussed in Hos- Who Is Responsible for the hen Mishpat1, however there is an opinion California Wildfires? that not all of them are enforceable by a con- Rabbi Yosef Greenwald temporary Bet Din. Parasha & Halacha Shiur by Rabbi Chaim Naftali In our times, we have lost the institution of The recent severe fires in northern Califor- CASTING LOTS: nia, with the ensuing tragic loss of life and of Semicha, and our Batei Din do not have the property, gives us all pause to reflect on the full authority that they had in past genera- Goral in Monetary Halacha Partners that want to split up a partnership into great kindness of Hashem and to realize how tions. One ramification is that our Batei Din much we depend on Him to protect us every equal parts, with all the property being of equal do not rule on uncommon cases. The major- moment of our lives. stature, the Halacha is that they cast lots – a ity opinion is that Esh is common enough That being said, we also can take some time raffle – to ensure a fair process. to reflect on the Halachic ramifications such that Batei Din today can rule on it.2 The Halacha is that once one lot was picked a situation creates.
    [Show full text]
  • Demolition As the Precursor to Building: Architectural Lessons for Judaism
    Torah Guidance in Ms. Elisheva [Ellie] Levi Challenging Times Elisheva [Ellie] Levi, AIA, LEED AP is a licensed architect in New York City. She designs schools, hospitals and other institutional work. She is a frequent lecturer at Yeshiva University’s Millie Arbesfeld Midreshet Yom Rishon and the OU Women's Initiative and was the founding president of the American Friends of Bat Melech, a domestic violence shelter in Israel as well as the founder of the Kol Kallah fund for Yad Eliezer. DEMOLITION AS THE PRECURSOR TO BUILDING: ARCHITECTURAL LESSONS FOR JUDAISM The Spiritual Effect of the of demolition involved: ground teshuva process during the month of Architectural Process clearing, earthworks removal to dig Elul that culminates forty days later deep for foundations and piping, at Yom Kippur. True repentance is a very architectural process or the demolition of miscellaneous long process — it involves breaking by which new buildings on-site structures to make way for the old habits and repairing broken are constructed involves new project. In other words, there is relationships. The sound of the Emany phases of design. The most never something newly constructed shofar heard at Rosh Hashanah, the memorable, of course, is the that does not involve the destroying teruah — the repeated, broken short construction phase. However, one of or clearing out of something that blasts — also signifies this breaking the critical phases of design, which preexists it. process. And when we are done with precedes construction, is called the In this respect, architecture can serve our brokenness, and have resolved demolition phase. It usually occurs as a real-time model for the spiritual to build ourselves anew, the first when a building or portion thereof process of building ourselves anew mitzvah we are given on motzei Yom is going to be renovated — the old that Judaism promotes in various ways Kippur is to go outside and engage in is cleared to make way for the new.
    [Show full text]
  • A Digest of Divrei Torah on the Yamim Noraim in Honor of the Engagement of Our Daughter Rachelli to Mikey Pearl
    אהבתכלולותיך A Digest of Divrei Torah on the Yamim Noraim in honor of the engagement of our daughter Rachelli to Mikey Pearl Rabbi Efrem Goldberg Boca Raton Synagogue Elul 5778/2018 אהבת כלולותיך © Copyright 2018, by Rabbi Efrem Goldberg & Boca Raton Synagogue, Boca Raton, Florida כל הזכויות שמורות ALL RIGHTS RESERVED No part of this booklet may be reproduced in any form without prior permission in writing from the author. 2 אלול תשע"ח אהבת כלולותיך A digest of Divrei Torah on the Yamim Noraim in honor of the engagement of our daughter Rachelli to Mikey Pearl Introduction .............................................5 Accepting the Gift of the Present .............................................7 The Matter Rests With You Alone .............................................11 It’s Just Not Me .............................................17 Feeling Shame in a Shameless World .............................................23 Maintaining Balance Step by Step .............................................31 Are You a Cheftza or a Gavra? .............................................37 Where is Your Mesirus Nefesh? .............................................45 Move On and Let it Go .............................................53 Are You Mocheil Me? .............................................57 אהבת כלולותיך 3 אהבת כלולותיך Holding on to the Sacred Trash .............................................63 Our Favorability and Trustworthiness .............................................69 Which Book of Life? .............................................75
    [Show full text]