LeKavod Shabbos

Ki Savo 5781 8/27/2021 Printable Shabbos Reading Materials Specially Formatted for Easy Reading For a free subscription, email [email protected]

לעילוי נשמת נחמה בת ר׳ נח ע״ה Srulie Toiv - Editor / Stories Compiled by Daniel Keren

Go To My Son-In-Law For Advice By Rabbi Sholom DovBer Avtzon I heard this story from Rabbi Nissan Mangel. A Rov who was a student of the Munkatcher, came to the Frierdiker (Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, zt”l, 1880-1950) shortly after WWII, and asked him 2 things: Rebbe, I know that you were extremely close to my Rebbe the Munkatcher (Rabbi Chaim Elazar Spira, zt”l, also known as the Minchas Eliezer, 1868-1937), & being that I can’t ask my Rebbe, I came to ask you. Please give me a brocha that I should have the strength to rebuild my life and start anew. My wife & children were killed in the war, together with many of my extended family, & I went a brocha to be able to rebuild and continue. Secondly, If I am to continue, [I am asking the Rebbe for his guidance, as to] where should I settle? The Frierdiker Rebbe gave him a brocha to have the strength to continue and then said, concerning the second point, go downstairs and ask my son-in-law Dedicated in memory of Dedicated in memory of ע״ה these Sorah Bas Meir Shalomע״ה for advice.R’ S hloimeFollowing Dreilach

LeKavod Shabbos Magazine  Ki Savo 5781  THE JEWISH HERITAGE FOR THE BLIND 1 instructions, the Rov came downstairs and knocked on our Rebbe’s [Rabbi Menachem Schneerson, 1902-1994)door, and told him that The [Frierdiker] Rebbe instructed/advised him to ask him the 2nd question as to where he should settle. The Rebbe replied, I heard that many Jews from are settling in Argentinia. Being that you are a Rov & a Talmid Chocham, I am positive that they would welcome you & you will be matzliach. Taking the Rebbe’s advice, he went to Argentina, & like the Rebbe predicted the community was thrilled & honored that such a prominent Rov was considering to settle in their community & they made him as comfortable as they were able to. The Rov, being a true Rov, set out to establish a school and other things that he saw as a necessity for a Jewish community, and the community supported all his efforts. Everyone was satisfied with the arrangements. Some years passed and one day a woman came to the Rov in tears; her wonderful daughter met a young man in college and wants to marry him, even though he is not Jewish. All of her entreaties, promises and threats fell on deaf ears. While in general the daughter was extremely respectful, and would do anything her mother asked, this was the exception. The Rov called up the daughter and began a conversation. The young lady responded respectfully to all of his questions, but as soon as he broached the sensitive topic, she replied, there is nothing to discuss, I decided that I am going to marry him, & hung up. When he redialed, she didn’t answer. The mother is sitting there & crying, & the Rov doesn’t know what he can do. After a few moments, he remembered that the Frierdiker Rebbe instructed him, that if he needs guidance/ advice, he should speak to his son

LeKavod Shabbos Magazine  Ki Savo 5781  THE JEWISH HERITAGE FOR THE BLIND 2 in law, whom is now the Lubavitcher Rebbe. So he calls Rabbi Hodakov & tells him the story, & concludes, the Rebbe’s father in law, the Frierdiker Rebbe told me that when I need to know what to do, I should ask his son in law, the Rebbe. He then hears the Rebbe instructing Rabbi Hodakov to tell him, The Rov should tell the young lady, that there is a Jew in Brooklyn who cannot sleep, because of what she is planning on doing. Hearing this, the Rov was uncertain on how this will work out, as well as how this will solve the problem. The young lady refuses to talk to him, so how is he going to give her this message. And if she does hear it, how would that affect her. However, he was a talmid of the Munkatcher & knew that if a tzaddik tells you to do something, you do it, without trying to understand it. He called the young lady, & to his surprise & delight, she picked up the phone. Knowing that he has her attention for only a few moments, he said to her, “I received a very important message from New York to give to you, & it will take only a few minutes. Please come to my office as soon as you can.” The young lady, said she will be there in around a half hour & came. The Rov told her, after our conversation, I called a very righteous Rabbi, and he told me to tell you that there is a Jew in Brooklyn who cannot sleep, because of what you are planning on doing. Hearing this she became furious & declared, you deceived me. I know no Rabbi in Brooklyn, & no Rabbi in Brooklyn knows me, this is a lie. There is nothing to talk about. Seeing that she was about to leave, he told her, I will show you a picture of the Rabbi that told me this. Saying that he left the room, noting that he will return in a moment. Going to another office, he took a frame with a picture of the Rebbe

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& brought it back, saying, this is that person. Seeing the picture, the young lady began to tremble, & said; the last few nights, this man is coming to me in a dream and instructing me not to marry that person, & warning me of the consequences that would befall us, if we marry. I never saw that Jew & didn’t know who he is, so I dismissed it. But now that you tell me that he told you this, I see there is truth to it. She then broke up & the following year married a Jewish man.

The Rebbe’s Concept of Ayin Tova (Good Eye) & The Chassidic Eye Doctor In recent times, an individual who exemplified the epitome of ayin tova, a benevolent eye, was the Gerrer Rebbe, zt”l, the Pnei Menachem (Rabbi Pinchos Menachem Alter, 1926-1996). The concept of ayin tova was manifest throughout the bais ha’medrash, with directives that anyone who stood up front during davening allow another Jew to take his place for the following Tefillah. “In the spirit of the mitzvah of V’ahavta l’reicha kamocha, “love your fellow as yourself,” and because this is the correct and proper way to act, we ask those standing in the front rows during davening (next to the Rebbe) to please allow others also to have the opportunity to stand in these places. He who has an ayin tova is blessed.” The Rebbe emphasized that rejoicing in the good fortune of one’s fellow is much more than extra-credit; rather, it embodies the principle of avodas Hashem, service to the Almighty, rooted in pure emunah, faith. When a person came to Hillel and asked that the sage teach him the entire on one foot, Hillel replied, “Do not do to another what you will not want someone else to do to you. That is the entire

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Torah.” He maintained that abundant parnassah, livelihood, was dependent upon ayin tova. At a tish, festive table/meal, chassidim join together with their Rebbe to listen to his Torah thoughts, sing together and enjoy refreshments. It is an opportunity in which the Rebbe and his chassidim come together for spiritual ascendance and inspiration. During a tish conducted on Parashas Bo, 1996, a few short weeks prior to the Rebbe’s passing, he said the following: “The Chiddushei HaRim (first Gerrer Rebbe) said that Chazal possessed a keen sense of ayin tova. It was they who instituted that, at a wedding, we recite the blessings beginning with the words, Sameach t’samach reeim ha’ahuvim; ‘Hashem should gladden the beloved companions.’ “They understood that every Jew, even the simplest, was to be considered a beloved companion and should be blessed as such. We must derive from Chazal that we need ayin tova, that we must bless and be melamed z’chus, give one the benefit of the doubt, even to those who are not worthy.” The Rebbe took the concept of ayin tova to the next level when one of his chassidim, an ophthalmologist by profession, approached him for a bircas preidah, blessing prior to leaving Eretz Yisrael, to speak at an ophthalmology conference. It was Motzoei Shabbos, shortly before the entire Gerrer bais medrash was to usher in Selichos for the Yamim Noraim, High Holy Days. A long line of chassidim was waiting to receive the Rebbe’s blessing; Jews of all walks of life were all standing at attention, waiting for that precious brachah. The doctor’s turn came, and he explained the reason for his trip. “What takes place at this conference?” the Rebbe asked. “Various physicians, many of them specialists in the treatment of illnesses of the

LeKavod Shabbos Magazine  Ki Savo 5781  THE JEWISH HERITAGE FOR THE BLIND 5 eye, speak and present their novel treatments. We all learn from one another,” was the doctor’s reply. The Rebbe asked, “Tell me, is it possible that a specialist who has discovered a novel approach to the treatment of an illness does not speak because he is not interested in sharing his discovery with anyone? Is it possible that he wants to be the first to innovate his treatment?” The doctor, who was taken aback by the Rebbe’s insightful question, thought for a moment and replied, “Yes, it is possible.” The Rebbe implored the doctor, “When you speak, tell your colleagues that your Rebbe in Yerushalayim asked you to convey the following message to this assemblage, ‘Just as our life’s work is devoted to the betterment of each patient’s physical vision, so should our personal vision, how we view people around us, likewise not be impaired. We should view our fellow through benevolent, tolerant eyes, granting everyone the benefit of the doubt. We should seek to help others – rather than look for opportunities to glorify ourselves.” The doctor’s turn to speak arrived. He rose to the podium and conveyed the Pnei Menachem’s message. When he concluded his short speech, one could hear a pin drop. This had never happened before. Here they were, the premier eye specialists of the world, and they were being admonished by a rabbi in Yerushalayim. A few minutes passed as the assemblage sat dumbstruck. Then one of the most distinguished physicians, a professor in a prestigious university, a sought-after surgeon who had operated on the power elite of the global community, stood up and walked to the lectern, “My dear colleagues, I have listened to the message of the Rabbi, and I am moved. I must confess that I have with me in my briefcase a

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paper detailing my latest discovery, a new procedure that will immeasurably transform eye care as we know it. “Veritably, for obvious reasons, I was not prepared to reveal the contents of this discovery in order to keep all the glory for myself. After listening to our distinguished colleague from Israel, however, I realize that, by not revealing this discovery, I would be depriving thousands of ill patients from this miracle treatment. I defer to the Rabbi’s petition that we think of others – and not of ourselves.” He revealed the discovery to the oohs and ahs of everyone in the room. The Gerrer Rebbe had made a point. We cannot correct someone else’s vision until we first correct our own. Peninim on the Torah.

Clearly a Pre-Destined Match From the Desk of Yerachmiel Tilles The Baal Shem Tov had a chasid who was a wealthy lumber merchant. The chasid would buy lumber & transport it to the bottom of the mountain where the river would carry it to the lumberyard to be sold. This lumber merchant had a son for whom numerous matches had been proposed. But a strange thing happened -- the moment the boy would see the girl, he would faint. After a while, the matchmakers all gave up. They considered him a hopeless case. The chasid went to ask the Baal Shem Tov, what to do. The Besht responded simply, "For the right one, he will not faint." One winter there was a terrible freeze. Conditions became so bad that all the chasid's lumber was lost in the rushing semi-frozen river. So again the chasid went to the Baal Shem Tov to ask for advice, just as he always did. This time, the Besht advised him to become a wandering beggar! Being a

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faithful chasid, he accepted his rebbe's instruction and began to travel all over . Whenever he had some time, he would sit in a study hall and learn Torah. One day, while he was sitting in the study hall in a certain town, a resident of the town came up to him and asked, "How much do you earn in a day?" "A ruble and a half." The resident then said, "I'm impressed with your dedication. I will pay you two and a half rubles every day if you will study Torah in my house instead." The chasid readily agreed - how could he pass up such a generous offer! A few weeks later he heard the husband and his wife crying in the middle of the night. The next day, wanting to help, he asked if there was any way he could repay them for their kindness. After some hesitation they told him that they had a beautiful and kind daughter, but every time she was introduced to a man she fainted, they explained tearfully. They had summoned all the best doctors, but alas, none could help their daughter. The chasid replied, "Maybe my Rebbe, the Baal Shem Tov, can help. Come," he said, "let us travel together to Mezibush, and we will see what develops." The desperate couple did as he suggested and within 2 weeks they stood before the holy Baal Shem Tov. Before the Besht spoke to the husband and wife, he turned to the chasid and asked him to bring his wife and son and wait with them in the next room. The Baal Shem then listened to the story of the husband and wife and asked, "Can you provide a good dowry for your daughter?" "We certainly will provide a proper dowry," they answered. They told the Baal Shem how four years earlier, during a bitter frost, they awakened one morning and found hundreds and hundreds of pieces of lumber in their yard. Try as they might, they could not find

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the owner of the lumber. So, they sold it to the lumberyard and had made a fortune. The Baal Shem then asked the chasid to come in with his wife and son. They entered the room. The son looked at the daughter. The daughter looked at the son. Neither fainted! "You see", said the Baal Shem Tov with a beaming smile, "The money this girl's parents received from selling the lumber actually belongs to this poor chasid, the father of this boy. And all of these events occurred only so that this girl & this boy should meet. MAZEL TOV!"

The Bishop Who Saved 1500 Jews by Rivka Ronda Robinson This is the story of a righteous gentile and his unsaintly nemesis. Pavel Peter Gojdic, a humble Catholic monk, was born in 1888 in Slovakia, where he served as resident bishop during World War II and a friend of the Jews who saved many lives. Nazi Germany occupied the region in 1938 and quickly went about issuing anti-Jewish orders. Local authorities cooperated, limiting Jews’ freedom of movement and excluding Jewish children from non-Jewish schools. At personal risk as apostolic administrator, Gojdic openly spoke up in favor of Jews from the beginning of their persecution in Slovakia. “On January 25, 1939, two days after the establishment of a special committee by the Slovak autonomist government charged with defining the program for the solution of the Jewish question, the bishop wrote a special letter addressed to all parishes in his Presov diocese,” wrote Yad Vashem, Israel's Holocaust museum. “ In this letter he warned about disastrous results which might be caused by these discriminative policies. He

LeKavod Shabbos Magazine  Ki Savo 5781  THE JEWISH HERITAGE FOR THE BLIND 9 reminded people of the basic principles of their belief – that every human being has equal rights when he faces God. He also warned of the consequences of Nazi ideology and racism.” Gojdic's activities did not sit well with the fascist Slovak state. Fellow priests turned on him. In the summer of 1939 they wrote a memorandum expressing their dissatisfaction with Gojdic’s actions. He resigned a few months later. In 1940 the Vatican accepted his resignation from the position of apostolic administrator, but at the same time appointed him as bishop of the Presov, Slovakia, diocese. This only increased the tension between him and the government. Meanwhile, Slovakia’s new president, Jozef Tiso – also a priest – began expropriating Jewish property and deporting Jews to German-occupied Poland. He resisted most pressure from the Vatican and Jewish groups to end deportations. Historian James Mace Ward, a visiting Fellow at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, cited a conversation in which Tiso regretted exempting 18,000 Jews from expropriation and deportation, due to his belief that they were sabotaging the economy. Ward’s research portrays Tiso as a man who helped condemn Slovak Jewry to destruction. Ultimately, Tiso met a violent fate himself. After World War II ended, a reunified convicted and hanged him for treason, suppression of freedom and crimes against humanity. Despite posthumous efforts to brand Tiso a saint, Ward concluded that he was no saint. On the other hand, Bishop Gojdic helped refugees, prisoners and inmates of concentration camps, and became known as “the man with a heart of gold.” He is credited with directly or indirectly saving as many as 1,500 Jews. In 2007 Yad

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Vashem recognized Bishop Gojdic as one of its Righteous Among the Nations. Its webpage about him reports: “On October 26, 1942, the Slovak Security Services informed the 14th Department of the Ministry of Interior about a high number of fictitious conversions taking place. The report pointed out several cases when only one member of a Jewish family converted to Christianity in order to defend his whole family. Out of 249 Jewish families only 533 Jews converted to Greek Catholic or Russian Orthodox faith in order to rescue another 1500 members of their families, who did not convert. Apart from that, most of those who had converted continued to actively pursue either in an open or a hidden manner.” Though he survived the Nazis, Bishop Gojdic endured a life sentence in prison when the Communist regime made the Greek Catholic Church illegal. The many letters written by Jews who were grateful for his work had no effect on this sentence. He died from cancer in the prison hospital of Leopoldov Prison in 1960, on his 72nd birthday. Aish.com

The Ignorant Groom’s Transformation By Hillel Baron Rabbi Avraham Abish of Frankfurt1 was born into a family of great Torah scholars, but he did not quite fit in. He experienced learning challenges, including trouble with reading. Despite his difficulty participating in Jewish life, he was a sincere young man who developed a strong awe of Heaven. His father understood that he could not marry into a family of scholars, and arranged a match with the daughter of a wealthy, G d fearing businessman from the city of Mezeritch. The

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custom in those areas was that during the festivities surrounding a wedding, the groom would lead the Grace After Meals, reciting the final words of each blessing aloud. His brothers worried that his lack of reading skills would embarrass them, so they made a point of tutoring him, and helped him memorize the blessings. During one of the meals before the wedding, while surrounded by his family, he was asked to lead the blessings, as preparation for the wedding festivities. But his mind went blank, and he could not remember what he had memorized. Frustrated and ashamed, his brothers scolded him and told him that he was an “embarrassment to the family.” Crestfallen, he left the table and went off into the forest, where he prayed to G d like never before. Exhausted, he fell asleep and dreamt of an impressive-looking man who told him, “I will bless you to succeed in scholarship, provided you remain humble, as you always have been. Whenever I appear to you, you will listen to what I teach you and then repeat it.” The wedding took place on a Monday. On Tuesday morning, the groom was sent off to pray in the town synagogue. After prayers, the holy man from his dream appeared to him and spoke to him, so the young groom got up to speak in front of the people. He delivered a beautiful dissertation on an obscure subject of Talmud, and everyone crowded around him, immensely impressed by his teachings. Meanwhile, his father and family were waiting for him, and wondered why he was so delayed. They went off to the shul to see what was going on, & were amazed to see him delivering a speech. “He has finally revealed his potential as a great scholar and a tribute to the family,” they said to each other. “Maybe we should see about ending this marriage, as he can now marry into a great rabbinic family like

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ours.” But the groom, of course, refused and said that the woman he had just married had clearly been ordained for him by G d. He went off with his wife to study in the Torah academies of the day, and became one of the great scholars of Israel. Nevertheless, he always retained his humility. When signing his name, he would write: “Avram ‘hu—he is’ Avraham.” This reminded himself and others of how G d chose to transform Abraham our Forefather into a great man, changing his name from Avram to Avraham, which carries the meaning, “Father of multitudes of nations.”2 The hint was that the same applied to him: he had been called upon by G d, and had been transformed into the scholar he now was. Are we fully aware of the potential of prayer to change our innate capabilities? How do we treat those in our lives who live with learning challenges are we proud of how they deal with that experience? After we achieve success with something which was extremely difficult for us, do we remain the same sincere person whom we were before? Chabad.Org Magazine.

Meeting by Accident By T.H. My job that is I am a Rabbinical advocate [toen]. I met a man in the street who very much wanted to talk with me and his flight was leaving the next day so he had no time to come back. I explained to him that I was hurrying to do some things and it was not possible for me to speak with him in the street especially since at that moment I was trying to call my driver without success. The man saw that I was in a hurry and he wanted to know where I was rushing to. I explained that my driver was not responding, and I had to be at a number of meetings, and so my

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mind was not settled enough to listen to him. The man offered to be my driver and we could talk on the way… I accepted the offer and we left together both of us pleased. We also talked about the belief in hashgacha pratis (divine Providence), for example, what I thought was a nuisance was actually my salvation, and my problem with the driver who was stuck in traffic and his cell phone broke, since the man had no other chance to talk with me at all. At one of the stops, I went up to one of the Tzaddikim and the driver asked to join me. He was able to receive a beracha (blessing) from him and when we left, he told me that he had tried with all his might to get a beracha from him, and now Hashem had arranged for him to get the beracha, and he felt that one of the reasons that I did not have a driver was so that he could receive a beracha from that Tzaddik. We agreed that the faith in hashgacha pratis brings us to have gratitude towards the Creator, & this is how we can attain avodas Hashem (our service to G-d) with joy & a good heart. Tiv HaKehila.

Striving for the Minyan Horav Chaim Toito, Shlita, relates an incident that occurred concerning Horav Moshe Aharon Stern, zl, The Mashgiach of Kaminetz, Yerushalayim. When Rav Moshe Aharon was a lad of 8 years old, he became deathly ill. His parents took him to the finest doctors, the biggest specialists. They responded, “Say a prayer.” Tehillim was all that was left for them to do. People recited Tehillim for him around the clock. One day, his father looked at him & said, “Look, everyone is reciting Tehillim for you; everyone is petitioning Hashem for your speedy recovery –

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everyone – but you.” The young boy asked his father, “What should I do? I, too, am reciting Tehillim. Is there anything else I can do?” His father replied, “Accept upon yourself a hanhagah tovah, good practice, a special deed to which you will commit yourself, regardless of the circumstances.” “Does Father have a suggestion for me?” the boy asked. His father thought a moment and replied, “Yes. Accept upon yourself that, upon being cured from this illness, you commit yourself to always daven with a minyan.” The young boy agreed to accept this policy as a commitment for life. Indeed, he doubled down on his learning, his yiraas Shomayim, fear of Heaven, and strengthened his minyan attendance. He would go out of his way to see to it that, under all circumstances, he would daven with a minyan. Once he became Mashgiach of Kamenitz, his duties changed commensurably. He now had to shoulder responsibility for maintaining the fiscal obligations of the yeshivah. As the yeshivah grew in size, his obligations also grew. It meant taking off time from the yeshivah to travel to the diaspora to raise funds for the yeshivah. While this presented a problem concerning the time he spent with his students, it also presented a logistical nightmare with regard to his commitment to daven with a minyan. Therefore, whenever he purchased a ticket to travel out of the country, he made sure that either there was a minyan on the plane or he took a flight that had a layover which afforded him the opportunity to locate and daven with a minyan. Once, on a trip to America, he asked the agent if there would be a minyan at the airport. The response was to be expected, “It is an airport, not a shul.” He could not promise him a minyan, but, if there were enough observant Jewish travellers (which there are at Ben Gurion

LeKavod Shabbos Magazine  Ki Savo 5781  THE JEWISH HERITAGE FOR THE BLIND 15 airport), there would be a minyan. If minyan was so important to him, however, the agent suggested that the Mashgiach take a stopover flight which would allow him a few hours to leave the airport, locate a shul and daven before returning for the continuation of his flight. Thus, on his next flight to the United States, he booked a flight that had a layover in Amsterdam. He figured he would have sufficient time to take a taxi from the airport to a shul, daven & return in time for his flight to the States. The plane landed in Amsterdam for a 2-hour layover. He walked outside the terminal & searched for a taxi/car service. He had been standing there a few moments when a car pulled up, and the driver asked him in Ivrit, “Where is the Rav going?” Rav Moshe Aharon replied, “I require a minyan.” During the trip, the driver informed the Mashgiach that he lived outside of the city, & every morning he drove into the city to daven & go to work. After a short while, the car came to a stop in a small alley. They alighted & went into a small shul, in which were assembled 8 Jews, who were waiting for 2 more Jews to complete the minyan. The Mashgiach davened & returned to the airport in time for his flight. He did not miss davening with a minyan. When the Mashgiach related this story, his eyes shone brightly as he would say, “Imagine, 8 Jews arise in the morning prepared to daven, knowing that they are 8; number 9 must drive in from the suburbs & they must hope that number 10 will somehow, from somewhere, materialize. This time they were “gifted” a Jew who was traveling to the United States whose commitment to minyan was so strong that he was ‘availed’ the opportunity to join their minyan that morning.” We derive from here that just, rotzeh leilech, wanting to go in a certain direction, is insufficient. One

LeKavod Shabbos Magazine  Ki Savo 5781  THE JEWISH HERITAGE FOR THE BLIND 16 must commit strongly to this path. Then he can be assured that, if he commits bah, to it, with strong intention, he will be led there. He must, however, have a bah,” a specific, unequivocal commitment to “it.” Peninim on the Torah.

Knife By Rabbi Berach Steinfeld Have a topic you want to read about? Email [email protected]

In Devarim 27:5 the posuk says one should not raise a knife on the stones in the Bais Hamikdash. Shulchan Aruch OrachChaim 180 says that our minhag is to cover the knife while bentching. The Bais Yosef brings down 2 reasons for this. The first reason is that a table is domeh to a mizbeach & since regarding the mizbeach we are told do not raise a knife, we remove it during bentching. The Torah Temima asks the following question: why are we allowed to have honey or yeast on the table, since they are 2 components that were forbidden on the mizbeach? In addition, why davka does the knife have to be removed during bentching? The 2nd reason is related to astory that took place while someone was bentching. When he got to the brocha of Bonei Yerushalayim he remembered the churban and in his anguish he stabbed himself with the knife that was on the table. We therefore remove the knife during bentching. The question arises; does a plastic knife have to be removed? The Shailos U’Teshuvos Bais Tzvi Vol 3 145:5 asked this question and answered that it would depend on the two reasons. If the reason is that a knife was forbidden in the BaisHamikdash, it would only apply to a metal knife so a plastic one would be allowed. However, if the reason is to protect a person from anguish, that would disallow a plastic knife as well. The Chashukei Chemed in Sanhedrin 76b says that even if the plastic knife is sharp it does not need to be removed since the gezeirahonly applies to what happened in the story, and in the story it was a metal knife, so the gezeira is only on metal not plastic.

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What about during the brocha of Al Hamichya? It would seem that both reasons of the Bais Yosef would apply to Al Hamichyaas well. The first reason, that a table is like a mizbeach, applies to Al Hamichya too. The second reason of speaking about building the Bais Hamikdosh is also mentioned in Al Hamichya. The Shailos U’Tshuvos Salmas Chaim 184 discusses this question but says that since the story took place during BirchasHamazon, the gezeira only applies to Birchas Hamazon & not Al Hamichya. He brings a proof from the Taz in Orach Chaim 180 that discusses why we do not remove the knife on Shabbos,only during the week, and he answers that since the story that precipitated the gezeira took place during the week, it won’t apply on Shabbos. The Yeshuos Malko in Hilchos Bais HaBechira 1:16 asks the following question. Is the Halacha of a knife applicable only to a specific type of metal knife, or to any metal, like gold or copper too? He says that it would apply to all knives made out of all types of metals, since the Gemara in Avoda Zara 52b says that the stones of the mizbeach that were defiled by the Greeks became chulin since they were designated for Avoda Zora, so they were not salvageable. The Gemara asks, why could they not be mevatel the Avoda Zora by breaking it? The Gemaraanswers that since one was not allowed to raise a knife on them,they were not breakable and therefore not able to become batel. This would be a proof that one could not use any type of knife. The Ramban at the end of Yisro says that only barzel was assur,but not other types. May we all be zocheh to get the Bais Hamikdash back & experience no more anguish!

Business Halacha Institute – Bar-Mitzvah Gifts Yehuda Stern celebrated his bar mitzvah. In addition to sefarim, he received cash gifts and checks from relatives and friends. "What should I do with the checks?" Yehuda asked his father. "I don't have a bank account of my own." "We can deposit the checks into my

LeKavod Shabbos Magazine  Ki Savo 5781  THE JEWISH HERITAGE FOR THE BLIND 18 account," said Mr. Stern. "I'll hold the money for you until you're old enough to warrant your own account." Yehuda signed all the checks written in his name, and his father deposited them into his account. "The checks come to $4,250," Mr. Stern told Yehuda. Years passed by. As Yehuda finished high school and turned 18, he wanted to open his own account. "Do you remember that you have my bar-mitzvah money?" Yehuda asked his father. "I certainly do," replied Mr. Stern. "I've been holding it for you. Some was also invested." "How much was it?" asked Yehuda. "I don't remember offhand," replied Mr. Stern. "It's been five years, but I wrote it down." Mr. Stern checked his records. "I found it," he told Yehuda. "The checks came to $4,250." "You said that some of the money was invested for me?" asked Yehuda. "I assume that money appreciated." "Yes, but I can't tell you for sure how much," said Mr. Stern. "It's not that I kept your money separate. I'll give you 6% per year on what you deposited in my account." "Excuse me for asking," said Yehuda. "But is that OK? It sounds a little like ribbis to me." "That's a good point," acknowledged Mr. Stern. "I wasn't thinking of that. On the other hand, although we deposited your money in my account, I wouldn't quite say that I borrowed it from you. I'll have to check." Mr. Stern called Rabbi Dayan and asked: "Can I return the money to Yehuda with an additional amount?" "The prohibition of ribbis applies even to loans between relatives," replied Rabbi Dayan. "However, the question here is whether you deposited the bar mitzvah money for your own use meanwhile, to repay when Yehuda matured, in which case it is like a loan, or intended to hold Yehuda's money in your account and invest it on his behalf, in which case it is like a pikadon (entrusted money). “If you ‘borrowed’ the money, you cannot add payment when returning it. Although no interest was stipulated initially, so that it would not entail ribbis d'Oraysa, Chazal prohibited adding interest or giving a gift when returning a loan, even when not stipulated initially, and even

LeKavod Shabbos Magazine  Ki Savo 5781  THE JEWISH HERITAGE FOR THE BLIND 19 when offered by the borrower in acknowledgment for the loan. This is called ribbis me'ucheres (post-facto interest) (Y.D. 160: 4, 6). “However, if you held the money on Yehuda's behalf as a pikadon and invested it for him in your accounts, his money justly earned the amount that the investments appreciated. “When it is unclear whether the money was given as a ‘loan’ or as a ‘pikadon,’ there is room to be lenient, since when a person is unsure how much he owes, he can pay the larger amount if he wishes. It is not considered interest since he is doing this to fulfill his possible obligation” (Raavad in Temim De'im #60; Bris Yehuda 5:10). "Nonetheless, it is preferable to give the additional amount some time after returning the principal, without stating that it’s for the money you held," concluded Rabbi Dayan. "Chazal prohibited ribbis me'ucheres only when there is a link between the repayment of the loan and the additional amount, either verbally or through context. However, when two parties have a preestablished relationship, so that you might grant Yehuda a gift unrelated to any loan, it is permitted to add not in proximity to the repayment. Shach (Y.D. 160:10) writes that if the additional amount is substantial, we would correspondingly require that a significant time pass" (see Bris Pinchas, #13,79). Verdict: If the parent intended to invest the money for the child rather than borrow his money, he can add a realistic return, but is better to add later as a separate, unspecified gift.

ISRAEL NEWS SHTIGLITZ Israel Uses Drones to Catch Environmental Criminals - Israel's Ministry of Environmental Protection is expanding its use of drones to fight environmental offenders, as high resolution video serves as substantial evidence in court. Green Police inspectors focus on illegal dumping, hazardous materials, and construction waste. Trucks full of construction waste were dumping their loads at night, but did not take into account drones

LeKavod Shabbos Magazine  Ki Savo 5781  THE JEWISH HERITAGE FOR THE BLIND 20 with night-vision cameras that captured the faces of environmental criminals and their license plates. "Drones are a game-changer," said Nir Shorashi, an inspector in the Green Police. "We can sit kilometers away from the crime scene and produce incriminating evidence....In the past, we needed to hide on the ground." The drone unit, Squadron 11, began operations in 2017. In 2020, it dealt with 700 incidents. ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Banks to Give One-Day Notice Before Bouncing Checks - Israelis who have overdrawn their checking accounts will henceforth be given notice, along with a one-day grace period, to correct the matter, Globes reported. The pause, which went into effect on Thursday, will enable customers to make a deposit to cover the shortfall & thereby avoid the negative listing as a restricted customer. Customers will be required to act two and a half hours before the end of the banking day. Until now, banks were not required to notify their customers that a check was not going to be honored, & may people discovered it only after it already bounced. After 10 such incidents, by law the offender is labeled a ‘restricted customer.’ The change in the law, initiated by MK Yakov Asher, obligates the banks to send a text message to the account holder or leave a recorded phone message warning of the overdraft. Asher pointed out that his amendment does not only benefit the writer of the check, but also the recipient who will receive the money that is owed. “This is an important social law of the first rank which will bring about a big revolution in the banking system & correct an injustice that has been around for years. I welcome the Bank of Israel’s campaign to implement a transformation in the banking system. This is good news that will benefit all parties the customers & the banks,” MK Asher said. ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

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Israeli Prime Minister Heads To Washington To Talk Iran - Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett departed Tuesday for his first state visit overseas since taking office, a two- day trip to Washington to meet with President Joe Biden and discuss regional rival Iran. The newly minted prime minister’s visit to Washington will come in the midst of heightened tensions between Israel and its regional arch-enemy, Iran. Israel is also grappling with a gradual resurgence of hostilities on its southern border with the Gaza Strip, barely three months after an 11-day war with Islamist militant group Hamas. Bennett was scheduled to meet Wednesday with senior White House officials, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, and on Thursday with President Biden during his two-day snap visit. In a statement released by the Prime Minister’s Office before his departure, Bennett said the top priority in his conversation with Biden would be Iran, “especially the leapfrogging in the past two to three years in the Iranian nuclear program.” He said other issues would also be discussed, including the Israeli military’s qualitative edge, the coronavirus pandemic and economic matters. Bennett has spoken out against the possibility of a new nuclear accord between Iran and world powers, and says that any agreement must also put the brakes on Iran’s regional aggression. Recent months have seen a string of attacks on Israeli-connected shipping, believed to have been carried out by Iran. Earlier this week, Bennett told his Cabinet that he would tell the president “that now is the time to halt the Iranians, to stop this thing” and not re-enter “a nuclear deal that has already expired and is not relevant, even to those who thought it was once relevant.” Bennett’s departure also came as friction between Israel and Gaza’s Hamas rulers was building. Indirect negotiations between the two sides to reach an arrangement for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip have broken down in the past week. Hamas has launched incendiary balloons into southern Israel and staged violent

LeKavod Shabbos Magazine  Ki Savo 5781  THE JEWISH HERITAGE FOR THE BLIND 22 demonstrations on the border, raising the specter of renewed violence only a few months after a brutal 11-day war left at least 265 dead in Gaza and 13 in Israel. “There’s a new government in the U.S. and a new government in Israel, and I bring with me from Jerusalem a new spirit of cooperation, and this rests on the special and long relationship between the two countries,” Bennett said before take-off. ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Israeli Astronaut To Take Ancient Coin From Bar Kochba Revolt To Space - Israeli astronaut Eytan Stibbe has chosen to bring an ancient Jewish coin when he travels to the International Space Station for Israel’s “Rakia” mission early next year, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) announced. The 1,900-year-old coin was minted during the second Jewish revolt against the Romans, also known as the Bar Kochba revolt. Stibbe first saw the coin when he recently visited the IAA’s Dead Sea Scrolls laboratory in Jerusalem and was shown various artifacts, the IAA said in a statement on Thursday. The coin was unveiled to the public in March alongside other rare artifacts that were excavated from the “Cave of Horror” in Nahal Hever. “As part of ‘Rakia’ mission to the International Space Station, I will be taking with me a bag filled with items that have a special meaning to me. It was clear to me that one of these items will be a symbol of Jewish history,” Stibbe said. One side of the coin, which is from the 2nd year of the revolt, shows a palm tree with the inscription “Shim‘on,” although only 2 letters are now visible. The other side of the coin has a vine leaf with the inscription “Year 2 of the liberty of Israel.” Stibbe said the coin “represents the connection to the land, the love of the country, and the desire of the population of Israel in those years for independence.” He added, “The palm tree particularly touched me, as it is the symbol of the Agricultural Research Organization, at Volcani Center, where my father spent his life conducting research on the country’s soil.”

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● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Israel’s Chabad Rabbanim: “Don’t Send Young Bochurim To 770 For Tishrei” - The Roshei Yeshivos of 7 Chabad yeshivos ketanos in Israel sent a letter last week to parents of their talmidim recommending that they refrain from sending their sons to 770 in Crown Heights for the month of Tishrei. It should be noted that the Chabad sector in Israel has been grappling with a high infection rate in the community. The Rabbanim wrote that although the advantages of traveling to 770 for Tishrei are well-known and normally the yeshivos encourage it, this year the coronavirus situation is difficult in Israel & around the world. “The Roshei Yeshivos & administrators met with the administration of Vaad HaTemimim HaOlami to discuss if it would be responsible or correct for us to send young talmidim at this time since it’s been proven that even those vaccinated or recovered can contract COVID variants. Only just recently, they are reporting on a new variant spreading in the US which severely harms children, rachmana litzlan.” The Rabbanim continued to write that the bochurim will be alone in the US, far from their parents, and it’s clear that despite good intentions, there will be no one who can monitor the health situation of hundreds of talmidim. They also mentioned the possibility that the bochurim could end up getting stuck in the US [due to new COVID regulations or travel bans] without anyone there to tend to their needs & supervise them. “Therefore, as those responsible for the material & ruchniyus needs of the bochurim, we are recommending not to send the young talmidim for Tishrei. We cannot take upon ourselves the responsibility for their health & welfare from afar,” the Rabbanim concluded. ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● The Hospital Joke… An elderly Jewish man faints and is rushed to the nearest hospital. A nurse tucks him into bed and says, “Mr. Schwartzman, are you comfortable?” Schwartzman replies, “I make a living…!”

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