Search Engine Finding Meaning in Jewish Texts Volume 1: Jewish Life Rabbi Gil Student Search Engine © Gil Student, 2018 ISBN: 978-1-947857-04-9 Paperback Edition All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in printed reviews, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (printed, written, photocopied, visual electronic, audio, or otherwise) without the prior permission of the publisher. The Publisher extends its gratitude to Rabbi Yeshayahu Ginsburg for his assistance with this project. Letter from Rav Menachem Genack, CEO of OU Kosher Letter from Rav Shlomo Aviner, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Ateret Kohanim Letter from Rav Yitzchak Breitowitz, Rav of Kehillat Ohr Somayach ק''ק אהבת תורה Woodside Synagogue Ahavas Torah 9001 Georgia Avenue Silver Spring, MD 20910 4 Kislev 5778 21 November 2017 Rabbi Emeritus Yitzchak Breitowitz For almost 15 years, first in Hirhurim and now in Torah Musings, Rabbi Rabbi Gil Student has educated, inspired and entertained thousands of people Moshe Walter with his perceptive and comprehensive essays on halacha, Jewish thought and Jewish history. He is one of the true pioneers in harnessing the power of President the internet to convey the timeless and eternal truths of the Torah and it is Richard Sassoon no accident that his blogs have been consistently recognized for their Vice President for Administration excellence. Chanoch Kanovsky For the second time, he has collected many of these pieces in book form. Vice President for Programming In almost 300 pages, R. Gil covers a wide variety of topics—marriage, Adina Gewirtz Shabbat and holidays, prayer, food, recreation, death. All of the essays, as Vice President for brief as many are (a concession to the diminished attention span of the Membership and Community Relations online generation!), are well-thought out, organized and cogent. He Alida Friedrich addresses his topics with clarity and roots his conclusions in authoritative Treasurer Jerry Saunders Torah sources. Moreover, his tone towards rabbonim and poskim, even Secretary those that he may disagree with, is consistently respectful. He debates Daniel Friedman ideas, not personalities. As such, both in style and substance, his work is a pleasure to read and is of real benefit not only to beginners but even to accomplished Torah scholars. May R. Gil continue to spread the Dvar Hashem in his “Yeshiva without walls.” Yitzchak A. Breitowitz Rav, Kehillat Ohr Somayach Jerusalem, Israel Letter from Rav Aharon Rakeffet, Rosh Yeshiva at RIETS Letter from Rav Arie Folger, Chief Rabbi of Vienna Table of Contents Preface . 14 Introduction . 17 Part 1: Marriage & Family The Super-Mitzvah to Have Children . 25 All-In-One Weddings . 30 Do Husbands Own Their Wives . 38 Equalizing and Nullifying Weddings . 42 Orphans and Affirmative Action . 46 Jewish Sexual Ethics . 51 When Did Jewish Childhood Begin? . 55 The Late Mohel . 57 Part 2: Jewish Education It’s All About Education . 60 Religious Zionism and Kollel . 64 Who Really Started Jewish Education? . 67 Are Kabbalah Classes Kosher? . 71 Part 3: Shabbos Shabbos Guides . 75 When is a Kiddush Not a Kiddush? . 82 Good Shabbos Afternoon . 85 Pass the Challah . 87 Medicine on Shabbos . 90 Working Out on Shabbos . 94 Disposable Diapers on Shabbos . 98 The Candy Wrapper Dilemma . 101 Is This Switch Kosher? . 106 Electric Sensors on Shabbos . 114 Combat Exoskeletons on Shabbos . 121 Pocketwatches on Shabbos . 126 Home Fires in Jewish Law . 131 Driving Under the Influence of Coffee . 137 Part 4: Jewish Holidays Seder on the Rooftops . 139 Buying Clothes During Sefirah . 142 Staying Up Most of the Night . 145 Learning Torah on Shabbos Erev Tisha B’Av . 148 Deodorant on Tisha B’Av . 151 Sheva Berakhos in a Sukkah . 153 Women Dancing with Torah Scrolls . 157 Is Every Day Thanksgiving? . 161 Is the Yom Ha-Atzma’ut Liturgy for Everyone? . 164 Dirty Laundry on Chol Ha-Moed . 170 When is Kiddush Levanah? . 173 Electric Menorahs Throughout the Year . 176 Part 5: Prayer Synagogue Dues: The Middle Path . 180 Why No Tefillin? . 187 Dew’s Disappearing Comma . 190 Mispronouncing Hebrew . 193 Bypassing Kohanim . 197 Ebola and Tefillin . 201 Three Steps Forward . 203 Pray with the Leader . 208 Rav Henkin on Carlebach Minyanim . 211 What to do about a Yarmulke #Fail . 216 The Short Minchah . 219 Pollard’s Blessing . 222 Prayer and the Longest Shiur . 227 Tzitzis at Ma’ariv . 230 Answering a Priest’s Blessing. 232 The Bencher App . 237 Turning a Lower East Side Church into a Synagogue . 240 Part 6: The Power of Speech Is Careful Language Possible? . 245 Preventing Damage . 250 Too Busy to Tell the Truth . 254 Hilkhos “Bli Neder” . 257 Swearing to G-d . 261 How to Undo a Minhag . 265 Lincoln’s Angry Letters in Jewish Law . 273 Denigrating the Dead . 277 There Is No Mitzvah to Be a Freier . 281 Part 7: Internet & Social Media Instagram and Jewish Law . 284 Skype and Jewish Law . 288 SoundCloud and Jewish Law . 295 Lashon Ha-Ra in the Internet Age . 302 Social Media for Shabbos . 306 Is the Fake Excuse App Kosher? . 310 Part 8: Food & Drink Wine in All Its Halakhic Glory . 315 Is Chinese Food on Xmos Kosher? . 318 Converts Immersing Utensils . 320 Demographics, Terumah, and Ingathering of the Exiles . 324 Rewashing After the Bathroom . 329 Part 9: Recreation & Hobby Chess in Jewish Law . 333 Video Game Idolatry . 337 Is Stand-Up Comedy Kosher? . 341 Is Powerball Kosher? . 343 Superheroes in Jewish Thought and Law . 348 Surviving Self-Endangerment . 359 Gun Ownership in Jewish Law . 362 Part 10: Death The 9/11 Memorial and Jewish Law . 368 Vehicular Homicide in Jewish Law . 372 Community Burial . 375 Abortion and Fathers’ Notification . 377 Part 11: Miscellaneous Nail-Biting in Jewish Law . 381 From Ethiopia to Shulchan Arukh . 387 Jews Attending Church . 389 Lift-and-Cut Shavers . 391 The Living Wage and the Working Poor . 394 Afterword . 396 Preface I thank God for allowing me to complete this book and pray that He allows me to continue learning and teaching. In 2004, I started the Hirhurim blog for publishing my Torah thoughts. To my surprise, the blog grew in popularity, starting an exhausting marathon of daily writing and publishing about Torah texts, laws, and thought. Along the way, co-bloggers added important content to the blog. Among them were Steve Brizel, Joel Rich, and R. Ari Enkin. I thank them for their years of contributions to the blog. The blog opened many opportunities for me, including speaking and writing for newspapers and magazines. In 2013, I dropped the blog format and transformed Hirhurim into an online periodical, titled Torah Musings, with an editorial board and more formal literary style. The editorial board includes R. Basil Herring and R. Moshe Schapiro. Efraim Vaynman does a lot of work on the website behind the scenes, often going above and beyond the call of duty. Regular contributors to the magazine include R. Gidon Rothstein, R. Daniel Mann, and Joel Rich. R. Micha Berger served as an invaluable early source of advice and editorial assistance during the transition to Torah Musings. I thank them all for their continued efforts to spread Torah. This book emerges from my contributions to Torah Musings over the past four years. 14 Search Engine Alec Goldstein of Kodesh Press served as the impetus for this volume. In addition to being a good friend, he is an excellent editor. His tireless work and precision has made this process a pleasure. I also thank Yesh Ginsburg for his editorial work on the book. It would be difficult for me to name every teacher who has influenced me or taught me, and I certainly do not want to imply that they agree with everything that I say or write. However, I would be negligent if I did not acknowledge their contributions to my education. What follows is a list of synagogue and school rabbis from whom I have learned: R. David M. Feldman, R. Ephraim Kanarfogel, R. Feivel Cohen, R. Mordechai Marcus, R. Yisroel Hirsch, R. Baruch Pesach Mendelson, R. Shalom Z. Berger, R. Yitzchak Goodman, R. Shlomo Stochel, R. Menachem Meier, R. Benzion Scheinfeld, R. Mordechai Willig, R. Hershel Schachter, and in particular R. Mayer Twersky. I also highlight the influence of R. Aharon Rakeffet and R. Menachem Genack. I thank them all for inspiring and educating me in the path of Torah. My lifelong friends, R. Daniel Z. Feldman and R. Benjamin G. Kelsen, have been constant sources of support and advice. I thank them for always being there for me. I would not be where I am, for better or for worse, without the dedication of two people who have set me on my current path: my mother and father. Their devotion to our family and Jewish education, and their encouragement for each of their children to grow in their own ways, serves as an inspiration to me and my children. And, of course, nothing in my life would have been possible without the loving patience and support of my wife, Miriam. She is a true partner in everything that I do. I thank her every day for bringing joy to my life. Our four children—Deena, Shea, Shmuly, and Tzaly—have always been blessings and sources of pride. Our 15 Search Engine family was recently joined by our son-in-law Dovid, and even more recently by our granddaughter, Ayala. We have so many blessings for which to be thankful. We pray for all their continued success in a Torah-infused life. Gil Student [email protected] 12 Kislev 5778 / November 30, 2017 16 Introduction I. Why Halakhah? Imagine if someone asked you to name the most important elements of Judaism or the most relevant parts, the things that really speak to you.