More on Mothers in Tanach

see here for an interesting discussion on mothers in Tanach, and elaborates on a Ramban I quoted here

Ths is about when Tanach names the mother of a person.
(Recall the Mekallel isn't Ploni ben Shlomis, but
וַ֠יִּקֹּב בֶּן־הָֽאִשָּׁ֨ה הַיִּשְׂרְאֵלִ֤ית אֶת־הַשֵּׁם֙ וַיְקַלֵּ֔ל וַיָּבִ֥יאוּ אֹתֹ֖ו אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֑ה וְשֵׁ֥ם אִמֹּ֛ו שְׁלֹמִ֥ית בַּת־דִּבְרִ֖י לְמַטֵּה־דָֽן׃
in Vayikra 24:11

Testimony of Smell, not voice

The Bechor Shor on Toldos explains after Yiztchak said Hakol kol yaakov, vehayadayim yidei Eisav, he had two conflicting pieces of information: 1) voice is Yaakov 2) feels like Eisav.  So he asked Yaakov to come close to kiss him and smelled the begadim - because they were Eisavs' clothes, they smelled a bit like Eisav (or the fields that Eisav frequented), so Yitzchak was machriya that the person who brought him food was Eisav.

I am not aware of halachik discussions based on recognizing something as smell, but there may be sources out there.  Please comment if you have something.

Previous posts on testifying based on Voice (tevias ayin d'kol):
first, second, and third

Guide to Chodosh 2019-2020

Originally published by Rabbi Yoseph Herman, now by Mrs. Rosskamm.

   Chodosh Guide 2019 Final by shasdaf on Scribd

Surrogate Pregnancy - 2 Mothers

Parshas Vayeitzei discusses surrogate pregnancy - see this post. This week, the following story came out of England:

A same-sex couple has become the first in the world to carry the same baby in both their wombs as part of a landmark “shared motherhood” procedure. British couple Jasmine and Donna Francis-Smith welcomed their son, Otis, two months ago. The baby was born via in vivo natural fertilisation, which involves the eggs being incubated in the mother’s body, rather than externally, as is the case with in vitro fertilisation (IVF). The AneVivo procedure, which was pioneered by Swiss technology company Anecova and carried out at the London Women’s Clinic, involved the eggs of the biological mother being placed inside a miniature capsule and inserted into her womb, where they were incubated. After the incubation of the eggs, they were taken out of the first mother’s womb and placed into the womb of the gestational mother, who carried the baby to term.

So now two mothers carried this baby; like Tosfos (Kesuvos 4b s.v. ad) מכל מקום כמה דברים אשכחן דלא שכיח ומיירי בהן הש"ס לדרוש ולקבל שכר כדאמרינן בפרק המקשה (חולין ע.) בלעתו חולדה והוציאתו והכניסתו והקיאתו ויצא מאליו מהו הדביק שני רחמים ויצא מזה לזה מהו אף על פי שלא יבא לעולם where he quotes Chullin 70a where Rava asked if you connected two wombs and the [fetus] left the first and entered the second [which mother is the mother] we see technology is coming very close to that situation. (I think this news story where the egg was only in the first womb for 18 hours has minimal significance. Had it been for at least 40 days, then it would present more issues.) But this case is pushing the frontier to having multiple surrogates for the same fetus. Source here

Star-K quick Yoshon Guide 2018-2019

YoshonQuick_September2018 by shasdaf on Scribd

Chodosh Guide 2018-2019

2018 Main Guide Final by shasdaf on Scribd

The Prisoner's Hagaddah: Minimum and Maximum in Hagaddah

The Prisoner's Hagaddah: Minimum and Maximum in Hagaddah

See Shulchan Aruch Harav 473:53. He cites the Maharshal's "maase" (quoted in the Bach) of prisoner without access to a hagadda, but he had chumash and read on Leil Haseder the parshiyos on yetzias mitzrayim.

Just Masse. No instructional statement "if in that situation, do this workaround". My Har Nof uncle sees several possibilities. 1. Perhaps the standardized form of hagadda is so deeply rooted as The Way to do sippur, that the poskim can not say when you're in prison do it differently. They lacked the power to make such a statement (even if technically he may have been yotze with that). 2. The prisoner was in fact not yotze. Reading from the chumash without the droshos is not enough. But it was a nice thing to do like a person who only has half a kzayis matza, eating it without a brocho. 3. It is a psak. Calling something Maase is not diminuitive. The Maase of a man in the real word can be an even stronger form of psak than the instructions issued by the Rabbis in the beis medrish laboratory.

My reaction: 

Hagaddah Shleima and Sefer Hatodaah bring down opinions how old the Hagaddah is, some of the shitos seem farfetched. Some point out the Anshe Knesses Hagedolah made some of the text, and that does make sense. Re Rambam koseres, Rav Yoshe Ber said the text shelo bizman galus is different. One of the questions was on every night we eat meat cooked however, but tonight only roasted. Rambam holds there were 5 questions then; Gra holds we can only have 4 questions, so one of the current 4 was omitted.So there is not 1 correct text.

Rav Zevin brings a tshuvos hageonim that if you read the pesukim without the drashos Ghazal you are suspected of being a min. I think lashon harambam is vedoresh m'arami oveid avi. SO the drashos are part of the hagaddah, My feeling is that to only say torah shebiksav isn't a kiyum of hagaddah, there must be torah shebal peh also, and that's why we read the drashos and say things ourselves; that's why Rabi Akiva, Rabi Yehoshua, Rabi Elazar ben Azarya etc spoke, they were learnig Torah shebal peh (even some have girsa hilchos hapesach kol halayla - those halachos are from drashos).

So the prisoner did a good thing with what he had, but it wasn't complete.

If you think of the Hagaddah and don't verbalize it, are you yotzei? Can one do a pantomime Seder? No. Chinuch says so: Rambam 7:5 (Rabban Gamliel) You must say Pesach Matza and Maror; 7:3 if you are alone you have to ask the 4 questions to yourself. Thinking of the question isn't enough; you myst verbalize it. Why? One reason is Hagaddah is Torah Shebal Peh, so it must be verbalized. (Machlokes Gra/Beis Yosef on thinkning in learning, if it requires Birkas Hatorah.)

This TSBP isn't limited to being oral. Using props is mentioned: Rambam — for a she'eino yodeia lishol, point to maid and say we were slaves like her. Pantomime can be used to enhance the Hagaddah if someone will learn more from pantomime, but verbal sayings are also required. The mitzvah of Haggadah is V'higadta lebincha — not v'amarta lebincha. - Onkelos v'chavi (experience)? Otzar meforshei hagada - including maaseh (like Malbim v'higadti in Ki Savo - demonstrate). The Chinuch gives a different reason why we must verbalize the Hagaddah: Hearing those words will cause us to feel free and understand it, get it„ more. We thereby see that on Pesach night we must have a feeling of freedom. This is part of other mitzvos as well — like mourning or being happy on Yom Toy. Ray Ahron and Grid argued about it, though. Ray Ahron held the feeling was internal, and the actions are external manifestations fo the Inner feeling. The feelings gush out and cause the action. Grid hel the opposite; the actions are performed in order to cause a certain feeling in the heart. These two approaches are also offered with respect to Hagaddah. The Chinuch certainly holds like Grid, that the verbal Haggadah makes us feel free. However, I feel the Rambam holds that the feelings of freedom cause us to do certain actions. Rambam's Hagaddah in Avadim hayimnu says Maarich - because of your emotions you gush and are maarich. We must act free - drink 4 cups, recline. (See Griz if derech Cheirus - is it part of seder or separate.)

In the Gulag, Mendelevitz did lots of preparations for the seder — saving potatoes, making raisin wine, and saying as much of the Haggadah as he remembered. See http://www.5tjt.com/a-prisoners-seder/ Was he yotzei? As long as he verbalized it and mentioned Torah Shebal Peh. Yes. A prisoner in the punishment cell is able to — not everyone can, but some can — have the feeling of being free.

(And this answers why Moshe isn't in the Hagaddah — he isn't mentioned by name, but because it is TSBP everything includes Moshe because all TSBP came through Moshe.)

So the minimum is Pesukim, TSBP and feelings of freedom. The maximum is up to you. There is no maximum. (And see commentators why Rabbi Akiva and everyone spoke all night)

Tzitz- related: Mtznefes of Kohen Gadol

There is much discussion if Mitznefes of Kohen Gadol and Migba'as of Kohen hedyot were the same, similar or different.

See Tosfos Eruvin 95b, Tosfors Sukkah 5a, Rishonim on Yoma 12 and 25, and Tos Yeshanim Yoma 86.  (BTW this is the mekor to smething I posted on long ago, that there is place for 2 Tefillin on th ehead, if it's next to each other or one in front of each other; most of these sources hold in front of each other.)  (Ritva Yoma 25 cites Shimusha Rabbah there is no minimum shiur for tefillin but most hold it is 2 fingers).

Rashi, Ibn Ezra and Ramban all say Mibaas has more Pe'er.  My first reaction to that si that Tefillin are called Pe'er and that's why an avel doesn't wear them the first day (whether that is yom misa ukevirah only or also yom kevura is a different discussion).  Both kohen gadol and hedyot needed to wear tefillin (pe'er) with their head-covering, so perhaps because the Kohen Gadol had tzitz and tefillin in the tefilin area, but the kohen hedyot only had tefillin, part of the migbaas was on the tefillin-area (which was empty on the head) so the migbaas part on that area is called pe'er.

from Torahmusings
Ramman on Vayakhel-Pikudei 
Verses 27-29 tell us about the garments common to Aharon (and all later High Priests) and the ordinary priests. Verse 27 speaks of kutanot, tunics, for Aharon and his sons; Ramban thinks those were exactly the same.
The next verse mentions the mitznefet, Aharon’s head covering, and the migba’ot, the ordinary priests’ head covering. Ramban thinks they were made the same way, but worn differently—as he said in 28;31, a comment we did not see at the time. The High Priest would wrap the material around and around his head, to create a sort of hat, one that has an opening in the middle. Other priests would take that same material but wrap it in such a way that it fully covered the head.
Then, in our third verse of this section, Ramban points out that Chazal in Yoma 12a debated whether the avnet, the belt, of the High Priest differed significantly (he does not elaborate further, but Rashi to Yoma 12a tells us that the issue was whether a regular kohen wore a belt of linen or of mixed materials; the High Priest wore one of mixed materials throughout the year, and of linen on Yom Kippur).

CHODOSH ALERT - LIEBERS

Liebers changed suppliers, so there is an update to their yoshon statuses.  See below.

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Beshalach - Takana to read Torah on Monday & Thursday

Bava Kama mentions from this week's parsha the Takana or Gzeirah to read Torah on Monday & Thursday (in addition to Shabbos) so we don't go 3 days without hearing Torah.  (Rav Yoshe Ber has a yahrzeit shiur about this in Shiurim L'zecher Abba Mari).

Rav Baruch Halevi Epstein, the Torah Temima in his other sefer, Tosefes Bracha, says this is a minimum, to not go 3 days without Torah, but you can increase it and read Torah more often.

This was surprising to hear, since in practice we've never seen this.

Maybe his logic isn't so good.  First of all,t his uncle the Netziv paskened you can't lain, even without a bracha, for a special ceremony in Baltimore when they were dedicating a new shul on a Sunday.  Meishiv Davar I 16.  According to Tosefes Bracha you can add to the number of times a week you lain.  Unless he's agree you'd have be consistent about it and not do a one time thing.

The Tosefes Bracha's logic isn't as good as it first seems.  From Netziv we see there are brachas that are not required.  Then, we have a mitzvah vehagisa bo yomam valayla (see Menachos 99b), so personally you can't go 1 day without Torah, so the public Kriyah is independent of this.  Thinking more about this, see my post about having to learn Torah every day, that form Rashi and Rambam in Moreh Nevuchim, as long as we have Torah once a week it is considered in our consciousness; therefore this takana/gzeira is a special gzeira to be stricter for public Torah reading (not 3 days without it) than other things (once a week is considered constant).  Since it's a special reason, there is no logic to say it is a minimum as Tosefes Bracha says.

(These are first impressions; I did not look at any of these sources in great detail)

In Memory: Rabbi Yaakov (Jack) Morgulis z"l, Drummettes

Rabbi Morgulis was from Detroit.  He served in the US Army in Panama.  He married his wife Nizria.  Her parents lived in the same building as the Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem, Hagaon Harav Zvi Pesach Frank zt"l.  While his wife and son stayed there, he traveled to Bnei Brak every week (by rickety bus on terrible roads) where he was in a group of 10 or 11 young men who learned with Rav Shach before he became Rosh Yeshiva of Ponovezh, but after the time described by Naphtali Lau-Lavie, older brother of former Chief Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau Shlit"a when Rav Shach was at the Lomza Yeshiva in Petach Tikva.  Rabbi Morgulis returned to his family in Jerusalem for Shabbos.

In Chicago Rabbi Morgulis taught Torah.  That is what he loved to do.  He was a people-person, very friendly and welcoming.  While he taught at Arie Crown and Ida Crown, the most only things I heard about him as a teacher was from his students (and parents) from Skokie Valley Hebrew School, where he made tremendous impressions on the children and inspired many of them to observe Shabbos and Mitzvos, having many of them as guests in his home for Shabbos where his sons served as friends and role models for the students.  Several of his sons studied at Yeshivas Brisk of Chicago under Hagaon Harav Ahron Halevi Soloveichik zt"l.

He was fascinated with Targum.  One day he was so happy because the previous day he had an almost 2 hour block of time, so he went through eight pesukim in Daniel.  He recommended Nefesh Hager over Adler's Nesinah L'Ger.  I don't think he ever saw R. Pozen's  Parshegen which only came out within the last 5 years or so.   Once, very early in my studies of Tarhum, I found that vayikach has at least 3 different workds in Targum.  I (thought I) found the pattern of when Inkelos uses which word and told Rabbi Morgulis.  He laughed when I told him and I didn't get any other feedback.  I later realized that this is one of the most discussed words in all of Tarum Onkelos, and he knew the yam about it, and I tried to explain it all in 3 minutes.

Remarkably but not unexpectedly, none of this is his legacy.  He is most well known as the owner of Kosher Karry on Devon and Mozart in Chicago, which made the best Drumettes in the world, and to this day other stores in Chicago try to market their "Kosher-Karry-Style Drumettes" but all fall short.  Rabbi and Mrs. Morgulis retired in June 2001 and Kosher Karry closed.

I really got to know him after his retirement when he would learn in Rav Moshe Soloveichik Shlita's Gemara shiur.  His warmth, menschlichkeit and love of people were extraordinary.  He also had stories of many gedolim or VIPs whom he had encountered or heard specific stories from people close to them.  He was always full of support and lent us seforim (like on Targum).  He was our resource in Targum and Dikduk, though I think his wife was his resource on Didduk.

This brief tribute does not to justice to Rabbi Morgulis, who was a wonderful man.  An ish Chesed, who loved Torah and brought others close to Torah.  But I feel required to pass along my impressions of him so those who didn't know him, or only knew him as the guy who made the best drumettes,  so they know he was so much more than that.

May his wife, sons and entire mishpacha be consoled among the mourners of Jerusalem (which he and his wife loved so dearly, especially her being a Yerushalmis) and may the smile and shining face of Rabbi Morgulis inspire us to bring the love of Torah to many others.

Chdosh Guide 2017-18 Final

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Chodosh Guide #1 - Sept 2017

   Chodosh Guide Sept 2017 Prelim by shasdaf on Scribd

Sanhedrin He'aros 20-22

20 b bottom - lands conquered by king can be given to Kohanim and Leviim.  See Rambam  4:10, Dvar Moshe 191. Abarbanel Shoftim.

21a - taama d;kra or not.  Why not say like Tos Sukkah 6 that the same tana sometimes holds yesh eim l'mikra and sometimes yesh eim l'masors?

Rashi sv mi hava.  Implies had she converted before the borth there would be korva.  But conception was as a non-Jew so why would there have been korva?  Ot's horasa shelo bikdusha!

Lo s'ar beis hashechi.  Navi said it was punishment.  But how did these genetic changes happen?  Kuzari - part of our dna that we can change, adapt looks / physical characteristics of the nations among who we live.  2) from converts introducing other genes into the gene pool

21b Rashi sv lo nisgalu.  Why does he only mention Chukim?  And see Margolios hayam.

Rash isv al hayichud.  Clearly gemara later changes it to al hayu=ichud d'pnuya.  But how can Rashi say yichud Eishes ish was decreed then?  It was earlier! And Tosfos later, 37a, clearly says that!

Rashi Aspania.  This is leshitaso earlier on 18b that king paid soldiers by the year.  But Aruch (see margin there) says it is paid month by month.

Sanhedrin - Introduction

I want to post some quick thoughts as I try to review Sanhedrin with Daf Yomi. First is from Tosefes Bracha on the origin and meaning of Sanhedrin. His own explanation and then a Tashbatz at the end.

Then, The Great Sanhedrin;: A study of the origin, development, composition, and functions of the Bet Din ha-Gadol during the Second Jewish Commonwealth1953 by Sidney B Hoenig this book from the 1950s says something like: "Dr. Hoenig, going one step further, believes that there were actually three courts: the great court of rabbis, which dealt with the Law, its development and decisions; the court of priests, which dealt with Temple ritual; and a governing council, which dealt with general administrative and civil matters." I am not supporting or agreeing with any of his arguments, but they are worth noting.