Chol Hamoed - Not just Chol

Just a quick reminder that chol hamoed days are not just days that, to quote my 3 year old son "are still Pesach, but you can do muktza."  Let's even set aside his use of the colloquial, erroneous use of "muktza" for "melacha", the bigger point is that there are real איסורי מלאכה on chol hamoed.  Here is a blog post (I'm not otherwise familiar with the blog, but it seems like a good summary of a Shiur by Rabbi Simon) outlining some of the details.  Some of the more relevant issues that should be avoided unless explored are any hard labor and writing (not typing - hope you weren't expecting those tests back too soon - it's 2 weeks of class time, right?).  Shaving (see here for a good article on the subject by Rabbi Jachter) is controversial.  Laundry, hair and nail cutting are generally prohibited.  Great Adventure trips are OK.

Chag Sameach

Here's some of the Pesach material you might find interesting:

• Yeshiva University's Pesach To Go is always a favorite.  This time it is highlighted by a great article by our own Mrs. Kahan (I think all of the copies I left in the atrium were taken) on the importance of the Hatan Damim episode as a prelude to yetziat Mitzrayim.  I once read a different explanation that I found compelling as well, in Amittah Shel Torah by Rabbi Yitzchak Twersky (one of our alumna was just telling me how much she enjoys his shiurim in Israel).  Still Mrs. Kahan's analysis opened my eyes about the precise connection between the two בריתות Hashem forges with Avraham and their parallel roles in the geula.
• Also in the Pesach To Go, I'm thrilled that they went back to their old custom of leading off with an old Rabbi Lamm Derasha.  This one is from 1965, and discusses the difference between contrasting types of seacrching for something new.  Here's my favorite paragraph:

Perhaps it is best to distinguish between these two elements of newness by using two different terms: “novelty” and “renewal.” Novelty is the misuse of the inclination for newness for things, for gadgets, for “kicks.” Renewal comes about when we apply the desire for newness to man himself, to achieve new insights which result in the transformation of his soul and his spirit. Novelty is extrinsic; it is a question of packaging. Renewal is intrinsic; it is a matter of content. Novelty is the seeking of thrills; renewal is the thrill of seeking. The desire for novelty is what leads a young man from a Jewish home to date non-Jews and ultimately to intermarry. The search for renewal leads a young person from a background of little or no Jewish education to seek out Torah and mitzvot. If we are concerned only with novelty, then we change Judaism in order to make it palatable for most Jews. But if we seek renewal, then we try to change Jews to make them more worthy of Judaism.

Wow, he is good.  Read the whole thing.

• On that subject, this year I used the new Rabbi Lamm Hagadah "The Royal Table," but not surprisingly couldn't get through much of it - just too much going on at the seder.  My new business idea: a Hagadah with divrei Torah of six lines or less to actually use at the seder.  All of these other ones are good for Yom Tov afternoon or the Talit bag, but don't help much at the seder.
• Finally, I read another strong issue of Maayanei Torah (the student portion, at least).  The last article, an excellent and original one by Talia Moss & Ilana Teicher interestingly enough also touches on the chattan damim story, and even takes a stand on it that I don't think is generally assumed - that Hashem was about to kill Moshe's son, and not Moshe himself.  Question to the authors:  Even assuming that to be the case, in what way did Moshe help Tzippora save him?

Pesach on Youtube

While this clip

is the hot one this year (with good reason - it's great), I'm still partial to this classic.

How Much To Eat On Pesach-from OU website

Kezayit Matzah
There are some variances amongst halachic authorities as far as how the precise measurement should be calculated, but the minimally recommended size is approximately 26 cubic centimeters .
Although strictly speaking, the Torah level mitzvah of matzah requires one to eat the measurement of a single kezayit, there is a rabbinic requirement to consume a total of five kezeitimat different intervals of the seder.
The first two portions are eaten together, one associated with the benediction of hamotzi with the other associated with the benediction of al achilat matzah.
The third kezayit is eaten as part of the traditional korech sandwich from the sage, Hillel, which serves as a reminder of the Beit Hamikdash. The fourth and fifth kezeitim are eaten together at the end of the festive meal as part of the Afikoman.
The fourth kezayit is associated with the korban Pesach, while the fifth kezayit is a reminder of the chagigah offering that was brought during the Three Festivals. Ideally, the required measurement for the additional four kezeitim should be the same as the basic mitzvah of matzahmentioned above. However, since these four kezeitimare rabbinic requirements, in an extenuating circumstance there is room for leniency to eat less.

Kezayit Moror
Nowadays, with the absence of the Beit Hamikdash (Holy Temple), the korban Pesach (paschal lamb) is not brought and therefore its interdependent sister mitzvah, maror (bitter herb), is not a Torah-level precept, but is currently a rabbinic ordinance. This is because our Sages mandated that one must still eat the traditional bitter herb independently.
Therefore while the minimal amount of maror that one is required to consume at the seder is also a kezayit, there are some variances amongst halachic authorities as far as how this measurement should be calculated. Moreover, some authorities calculate the measurement diferently for mitzvot derabbanan.
The minimal size given is approximately 26 cubic centimeters, which can be limited to just a single, large leaf of romaine lettuce .
Medium or small leaves of romaine lettuce will respectively amount to approximately three-fifths or one-fifth of the required amount. Large romaine stalks are approximately half a kezayit, while small romaine stalks are roughly one-quarter’s worth. A single endive is between one half to one quarter of the required amount, depending upon whether the leaf is large, medium, or small. A filled one ounce shot glass of ground horseradish constitutes a kezayit.

Revi’it Wine
The requirement of drinking four cups of wine is rabbinic in nature and the minimal measurement required for the four cups is a rivi’it for each cup. There are some variances amongst halachic authorities as far as how this measurement should be calculated, but the minimal size given is approximately three ounces . It should be noted that if one’s cup holds more than a rivi’it, one should try to drink the entire cup or at least most of it.

Passover is a time when we became a nation and is therefore an opportunity to appreciate the many laws that were given to us. As we celebrate our freedom during the Passover holiday, we have the opportunity to reflect on what makes our heritage so unique. The meticulousness, care, and detail with which we approach ritual observance will certainly make our heritage special.

Why I Stay Home for Pesach

I am staying home for Pesach. Since 1993, with only two exceptions, we have "made Pesach" at home. To paraphrase Dr. Seuss, "I will do Pesach in my house, I will make Pesach and not grouse. I'll only make it here not there, I will not make it anywhere (except my house.) Making Pesach at home began as a matter of necessity. In 1992, my husband and I moved to Cincinnati, OH where he became the Rabbi of a shul. The Rabbi doesn't leave for Pesach, so we needed to make Pesach ourselves. We were both trained: because I am a ba'alat teshuva, I started "making Pesach" in my house in 8th grade, and my husband was part of a well-oiled Pesach-making machine that was his mother's house in Minneapolis, MN. I was really excited to do it ourselves because I felt privileged to be able to make a kosher Pesach and to do it the way I had always dreamed of doing it. I surveyed my friends to find out what I needed, and my husband and I spent several Sundays buying EVERYTHING we needed to equip a house for Pesach. It was fun and I was so proud. I really felt the "cheirut", felt like I had finally "arrived" at where I had striven to be for many years. I felt blessed that we had the money to be able to purchase what we needed and that we had a lovely home to host sedarim. I was married to a learned man who could lead a seder, and we were finally able to do it our own way. People often look at preparing for Pesach and making sedarim as a huge (if not overwhelming) amount of work and something to be escaped, if at all possible. It IS a huge amount of work, but I feel that the preparation itself is what Pesach is all about. IMPORTANT NOTE: I am a firm adherent to the dictum "Dirt is not Chametz". I DON'T spring clean as I prepare for Pesach; I don't wash curtains or walls or the shelves of my linen closet. What I (and the rest of my family) do however, is try to go through all the places where chametz might be (which is pretty much everywhere in our house) and clean up. That sorting through and cleaning up process is, to me, the metaphor for ridding myself of chametz and preparing myself for Pesach. Chametz, according to the Gemara, represents pride, arrogance, and hubris. It is that which "puffs us up" and makes us feel that we are completely in charge of our lives, our destinies and our fates. That hubris is what pushes humility and a constant awareness of Hashem out of the way. Ridding ourselves of "chametz" should be a reminder to rid ourselves of arrogance and an excessive focus on materialism. Preparing for Pesach should be about reminding ourselves that our lives and everything we have are precious gifts that we are privileged to have and need to both enjoy and use in service of Hashem and the people who He created in His image. I feel (and this is my feeling, it is not in any way shape or form meant to be a prescription for what "should be") that this kind of cheirut is best felt after you have worked for it. When we come to the seder, we know that what we have before us is a product of our work and Hashem's brachot. I feel that this is also best felt when you are surrounded by those closest to you and those you love. I feel that cheirut is most keenly felt when there is still some avdut attached to it; as the Midrash teaches us, cheirut and charut (engraved, as the Torah was on the luchot) are the same letters and therefore, intertwined concepts. You need to have a sense of your own subservience to really appreciate your freedom. You need to have limits to bring out your best self. For me, staying home isn't only about money. For me, somehow, Pesach would seem incomplete if I were to be served food that I had no part in cooking, enjoyed cleanliness and hospitality that I had no part in preparing, and reveled in the chametz-free environment that I had no part in achieving. I think I would feel very lonely in a room with lots of people I didn't know and didn't have a relationship with and at a table that wasn't in my dining room that my husband and I decorated together with artwork that we had bought together. So I will stay home this Pesach. I wish everyone and their families and all those they love a wonderful, happy, healthy and kasher Chag wherever the are!

draft

"Thousands in Southern Israel Spend Shabbos in Bomb Shelters"

Those of you who got on Arutz Sheva’s website right after Shabbos might have seen the headline that said, “Thousands in the south spend Shabbos in bomb shelters.” Unfortunately for our brethren in the south of Israel, Hamas decided not to honor a ceasefire that they had declared, and they fired over 50 rockets into Israel on Shabbos day alone. I had written recently of the guilt I used to feel when I would read of these attacks from my comfortable house in America, and how I feel privileged to be able to spend this year in Israel and share in the burden that our Israeli brethren shoulder each day.

Well, this past Shabbos we were 7 of those thousands.

We had plans to spend this past Shabbos at a family gathering in a yishuv called Yevul, less than 5 km from the borders of both Aza and Egypt. When the rocket attacks began anew, about three weeks ago, our cousins who live there reassured everyone that they don’t live in the area suffering from the rocket attacks, and in the year and a half that they have been living there, they only experienced a ‘tzeva adom’ (code red rocket alert) once.

But that was before Thursday, when Hamas fired a mortar at an Israeli schoolbus which injured the driver and critically injured one boy. The Israelis retaliated, and the situation escalated.

We arrived in Yevul a little nervous, but blissfully ignorant of the new threat. As our cousin showed us to our caravan he pointed out the bomb shelter across the road. “Don’t worry”, he said, “Rockets don’t fall in this area.” But shortly after Shabbos began our caravan was rocked by the sound – and concussion waves – of multiple explosions. In the distance I could hear a faint siren. Looking over to where our cousins were standing, around the shul and the chadar ochel, I wondered why nobody else seemed to take notice. I quickly left the caravan and headed over to the chadar ochel, ducking into the bomb shelter on the way for protection, although my excuse was that “I just wanted to see what it looked like inside.” When I reached the chadar ochel, I asked what the explosions were and why nobody was running for shelter, and someone explained to me that the explosions were from our army bombing tunnels in Aza.

However, the quiet that had previously been in that area was over now. During the course of Shabbos we experienced numerous ‘tzeva adom’ incidents. The first time I heard one I was in shul davening. Suddenly a loud siren interrupted the davening, and then the words, “Tzeva adom, tzeva adom!” From that moment, you have approximately 30 seconds to get to a bomb shelter. People went running out of shul and I followed. But instead of racing to the nearest shelter, I needed to find my kids, who wouldn’t know what to do on their own. Sure enough, my 8 and 4 year olds were playing by themselves around the corner of the building, looking bewildered and a little scared. I grabbed their hands and we raced to a nearby shelter. Before we reached it, though, we heard the sounds of explosions as the rockets slammed into the ground somewhere nearby, although not in our yishuv. Thirty seconds isn’t very much warning. We stood in the shelter, waiting to be sure it was safe to come out, and my daughter said she was scared. I lied and told her there was nothing to be scared about, and I said that it was important that we were there for Shabbos.

As Shabbos progressed we all got used to the ‘tzeva adom’ warnings. I wasn’t always with my kids when it happened, but I relaxed about it and relied on the knowledge that whatever adult was near them would usher them to safety. For their part, my kids got used to running to the bomb shelters on their own. My 17 and 14 year-olds were often together when it occurred, and took care of themselves. My 11 year-old was usually watching over the younger cousins, so she just followed the lead of their parents and ran to shelter with them. My 8 year-old was proud of herself that she wasn’t scared anymore and just ran to safety with whichever older cousin she was playing with. My 4 year-old decided that it was a fun game, and would randomly announce ‘Tzeva adom, tzeva adom!’ and run into a shelter whenever the mood came upon him.

It was definitely a growing experience for all of us. We learned what life is like for thousands of people who live in southern Israel, who have to run into bomb shelters multiple times each day. We were lucky that no rockets actually landed in Yevul; I can only imagine how much more traumatizing it is when rockets are crashing down around you. And the rockets keep reaching farther north and east each time, hitting Be’er Sheva, and Ashkelon, Ashdod, and even Yavne.

As Shabbos ebbed, I felt that a flame had been re-ignited inside me. We can’t let ourselves be scared away, because that is what the terrorists want. They want us gone – not just out of Yevul, or Sderot, but out of Israel completely. I’m so glad our family event wasn’t cancelled, and that 100 people were brought down to spend Shabbos in little Yevul, on the borders of Egypt and Aza. One hundred people to show the residents of southern Israel that we are with them in their plight. One hundred people strong, who said together Israel is ours; we are here, and we will not be scared away.

Orthodox Basketball Players and Shabbat

Here's an interesting article about a female Orthodox basketball player who left Israel to play basketball at the University of Toledo. She'll play in games on Shabbat but won't go to practices and has made other accommodations to make sure that her religious standards can be kept. Thoughts? Is it possible to live in both worlds? How far can we compromise without going to far? What do you think of her decisions?

http://www.forward.com/articles/136770/

A Response to Mrs. Cohen's "Thoughts from Yerushalayim"

Rachel Ullman had the following to say to Mrs. Cohen:

I think that whenever there is an attack in Israel people should respond. I believe the response should be to do the exact opposite of what the terror attacks try to accomplish. Terrorists try to instill fear in peoples' lives, so by taking a bus (if there was a bus attack) we are showing that the terrosits' actions will not keep us from continuing our day to day activities. How can we restrict ourselves from doing things if those restrictions may increase? Say an attack happens in a cafe (chas v'shalom), so we decide to no longer go to cafes. Then the same thing happens on a bus, in a mall, etc. To what extent will we really restrict ourselves? Obviously this is much easier said than done, and my opinion may not be completely valid since I'm not living in Israel/going through these situations, but I do believe that we can't let these fears of 'what will happen next?' control our lives.

Also, I thought your last comment, "When I am in America and hear of attacks in Israel I always feel guilty that I'm living a comfortable life, while our brethren in Israel have to endure hardships. But this time, I’m here too, and I can share in their burden.", really spoke to me. After hearing about the last attack in Israel, I was talking to a friend and said that I wasn't sure why I always felt this way, but whenever an attack happens I have an even greater want to be in Israel(she looked at me like I was crazy). To me this seems totally counterintuitive, but it's really what I think. I know I can't do much to help the situation and even if I was in Israel I probably wouldn't be able to do much either, I would still feel guilty that I wasn't there. Just the fact that I would be one more person in Israel, showing that the terrorist attacks wouldn't keep us from living there, that would seem worth it. It's also possible that the reason I believe all of this is because I haven't experienced what it is like to live there. Although, I do think my beliefs would be pretty similar if I was there.

Update on one of my favorite posts

A while back we had a guest post by Rabbi Daniel Feldman, responding to a question from Rikki Novetsky about "kula shopping.  Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach once addressed a similar question - see here.

Ways To Make Your Tefillah More Meaningful-By Mrs. Sinensky's Jewish Philosophy Class

• Pick a different part to focus on each day
• Think about what inspired the tefillot
• Think about the fact that everyone is davening the same text
• Daven betzibbur
• Relate it to your own life
• Follow along in the Siddur
• Remove yourself from distractions
• Add in your own requests in the bakasha section of Shmoneh Esreh
• Go to sleep earlier so that you are more awake for Shacharit
• Talk less during davening
• Remember that the Rabbis who wrote tefillah knew what was important to include
• Remember that davening is an opportunity-Hashem wants to give to you
• Think that you are standing before a King
• Don’t rush
• Be open to tefillah
• Daven for other people
• Use the English
o Focus on parts that you don’t understand
o Read the English as a “preview”