Ask The Rabbi
7 February 1998 
Issue #179 (Parashat Beshalach)
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This Issue Contains:
1. Is Sign Language?       5. Prayer for the Payer
2.  Cookbook of Creation   6. Son of the Short Swords
3.  "Naar-ish"             7. Yiddle Riddle
4.   A Little Nosy         6.  Public Domain
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Is Sign Language?
<Drc@flash.net> wrote:

>Dear Rabbi,
>
>I recently ate a Shabbat meal at a home with a deaf child.  After washing 
>our hands but before the "hamotzie" blessing, the child began "talking" to 
>his mother in sign language.  Is this violating the prohibition of 
>"speaking?"

* * * * * * * * * *

Dear Drc,

Sign language is not considered actual speech in this context.  However, it 
is not encouraged between washing and saying hamotzie.

As you know, it's a mitzvah to wash your hands before eating bread.  After 
washing, you shouldn't speak until eating.  But if you do, no new washing 
is required.

Source:
o  Mishna Berura 166:1:5
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Cookbook of Creation

Ofer Gamliel <ofer647@aol.com> wrote:

>Dear Rabbi,
>
>What do you know about Sefer Yetzira?  Can this book be at home?  Thank 
>you.

* * * * * * * * * *

Dear Ofer Gamliel,

Sefer Yetzira -- "The Book of Creation" -- is a work of deep Kabbalah.  As 
its name implies, it deals with the secrets of Creation, including powerful 
Hebrew letter combinations of mystical creative energy.  By studying Sefer 
Yetzira, the Talmudic Sages learned letter combinations which enabled them 
to create humanoids and animals.

Sefer Yetzira is attributed to Avraham.  According to a Midrash, it was 
written by G-d and given to Avraham who studied it with Shem and Ever.

Yes, you can have this book at home.  But don't keep it with your 
cookbooks.  It can only be studied by someone versed in Kabbalah.

Source:
o  Tractate Sanhedrin 65b

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"Naar-ish"

Peter Persoff <Peter_Persoff@macmail.lbl.gov> wrote:

>Dear Rabbi,
>
>You wrote that Isaac was 37 at the time of the akeida (binding of Isaac). 
>I have heard that, but I always imagined Isaac to be age 13 at the akeida. 
>I think the angel said "Do not lay a hand on the lad (na'ar)."  How do we 
>know Isaac's age, and why did the angel refer to him as a na'ar?  Thank 
>you for your email.

Michael Zidile from New York, New York <zidile@ymail.yu.edu> wrote:

>Hi.  My name is Michael, and I am researching a topic:  In Bereshet, the 
>word na'ar (youth) and ish (man) are interchanged a lot, and I was 
>wondering the possible reasons behind this.  One example is when the Torah 
>discusses Yaakov and Esav and uses the terms na'ar and ish.

* * * * * * * * * *

Dear Peter Persoff and Michael Zidile,

Literally, na'ar means "a youth."  It can also mean a servant or attendant.

The commentaries explain that na'ar generally indicates behavior rather 
than age.  A na'ar is a person who shows youth in his actions.  This is 
sometimes negative, as with Joseph, who was described as acting like an 
immature youth.  Sometimes it is positive, as when describing Joshua who -- 
at age 42 -- is called a na'ar in reference to his serving and learning 
from Moses like a young student.

The Torah says that Yitzchak was born when Sarah was 90.  Sarah died at age 
127 when she heard about the akeida.  Yitzchak was therefore 37 at that 
time.

Nachmanides points out that a child may be called na'ar from the moment he 
is born.  He also points out that when na'ar is used in contrast to ish, 
the meaning is a subordinate (na'ar) in contrast to a superior (ish).

Sources:
o  Genesis 17:25, Exodus 33
o  Rashi, Genesis 23:2, 22:3 & Exodus 2:6, Chronicles I 22:5
o  Nachmanides, Genesis 21:9, 37:2, Exodus 2:6, 33:11
o  Ibn Ezra, Genesis 37:21

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A Little Nosy

Rebner from Mainz, Germany <rebnerch@dit.de> wrote:

>How come that people have two ears but only one nose?

* * * * * * * * * *

Dear Rebner,

Excellent question!  Every aspect of Creation contains Divine wisdom.  It's 
our job to discover the wisdom in everything.

The two ears are designed to give a person directional and stereo hearing, 
hence they are placed on each side of the head.  The nose also has a 
similar design with two nostrils, but they are close together as there is 
no real need for "stereo smell."

Just as the army places a guard at the gate of a munitions factory, so too 
G-d has strategically positioned a 24 hour guard at the "gate" of the human 
body:  No food can enter your mouth without passing under your nose's 
scrutinizing security scan.  Food dangerously spoiled is automatically 
identified and denied admission.

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Prayer for the Payer 

<email@withheld> wrote:

>Dear Rabbi,
>
>Hi.  I am an observant student living in a dorm.  I have a question 
>regarding my situation.  In the section in bircat hamazon (grace after 
>meals) when we ask for a blessing on the head of the household (or for 
>ourselves, or for the place where we are eating), do I say it for myself 
>or for my parents -- since they are paying for my tuition (though it is 
>not their table really)?  I thank you in advance, and I think your Ask the 
>Rabbi service is a great idea.

* * * * * * * * * *

Dear <email@withheld>,

The blessing for the "head of this house" included in the bircat hamazon 
can refer to the one who provides the meal, even though that person is not 
the "owner of the house" where the meal is taking place.  Therefore, in the 
appropriate place during the bircat hamazon you can bless your parents as 
the "heads of the house" because they paid for the meal.

Sources:
o  Mishnah Berurah 193:27

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Son of the Short Swords

Eli Zeldovich <elileela@aol.com> wrote:

>Dear Rabbi,
>
>My question is genealogical.  In tracing my family name Zeldovich, son of 
>Zel, I have come to Josephus' coining of the word Zealot to describe the 
>defenders of Masada.  What is the root of this word zealot?  Were the 
>women and children survivors of Masada taken to Rome as "zealots?"  Thank 
>you for your time.  Shalom.

* * * * * * * * * *

Dear Eli Zeldovich,

According to Josephus, the only survivors of Masada were a woman and two 
children.

It's unlikely that there's any connection between your name and the 
zealots.  Zeldovich is a Russian name.  Josephus refers to the zealots by 
the Greek word "sicarii" which means "the short swords," because they 
carried with them short swords.

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Yiddle Riddle

Last week we wrote:

Shira Phillips <philfam@erols.com> wrote with the following riddle:

Dear Yiddle Riddle people:  The following is a story I read about Rashi in 
a child's Hebrew biography in perhaps fourth grade.  Nobody I know has been 
able to solve the question without help.  Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo ben Yitzchak) 
once went on a journey to a foreign city.  On his trip, he wanted to visit 
a wealthy man to collect money for poor people.  When he visited, the man 
was not at home, but his servant was.  The servant said that he recognized 
the great Rashi as a thief who had previously run off with a set of his 
master's clothing and forced Rashi to pay for the clothing!  Rashi wrote 
the following Hebrew word on the door five times in a row:  The word was 
spelled "Shin Lamed Mem Hey."  What did the message mean?

PS  Rashi definitely got the hoped-for reaction from the home owner:  He 
contributed charity and was from then on always a follower of Rashi.

Answer:  Why (she'lama) did Shlomo pay for (shilmah Shlomo) an entire suit 
of clothing (salma sheleima)?  (Note:  Salma in modern Hebrew means a dress 
but in the Chumash it means a garment.  Shilmah is a contraction of shilaim 
otah -- "paid (for) it.")

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THE PUBLIC DOMAIN
Comments, quibbles, and reactions 
concerning previous "Ask-the-Rabbi" features.

I enjoy Ohrnet every week when my husband or son brings it home from shul.  
However, this week I noticed a sentence that might be interpreted by some 
in the wrong way.  As you know, all kinds of people read your publication.  
You wrote:  "If you face an evil opponent, a Stalin or a Hitler, you shoot 
him in the back."  There may be those among us who will take it upon 
himself to decide, "Hmm, so-and-so falls into that category" and decide he 
is justified in "shooting him in the back."  I think it might be advisable 
to print some kind of clarification in your next issue.
                                     Eta Kushner <etawrite@netmedia.net.il>

* * * * * *

Re: "Watching the Detectives" (Ask the Rabbi #170) concerning the New York 
police detective who feels guilty about extracting confessions from violent 
criminals by feigning friendship:

It would seem from the brothers deceiving Chamor, Shechem and the rest of 
the city in order to punish them for their crimes that the officer has 
nothing to feel guilty about.  Not exactly parallel, but possibly one can 
say that by Avraham and Yitzchak representing themselves to Pharaoh and 
Avimelech to avoid being killed and their wives enslaved, that deception is 
allowed if it will prevent crimes from being committed.  Keep up the good 
work!
                                        Daneal Weiner <daneal@actcom.co.il>

* * * * * *

Re: Verse beginning and ending with same three words (Ask the Rabbi #172):

I forwarded your last riddle to a friend of mine, Avinoam Friendman, who 
told me that there were other verses like "U'vnei Dan Chushim" that also 
begin and end with the same three words.  I don't know if this counts or 
not.  Have a good Shabbos.  
                      Aron M. Mandl, North Miami Beach, FL <Aronio@aol.com>

Rabbi's Response:  Clever!  But we don't say this verse twice a day, as 
stated in the riddle.  How about "l'yeshuascha kivisi Hashem" which some 
people repeat three times in the bedtime Shema?

* * * * * *

Correction:  Current Candles (Ask the Rabbi #173) should read "A Chanukah 
menorah must contain enough fuel at the time of lighting to burn for at 
least half an hour after nightfall" and not "half an hour after sunset."
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