Ask The Rabbi
16 May 1998 
Issue #192 
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This publication is available in HTML format at
http://www.ohr.org.il/ask/ask192.htm
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Researched at Ohr Somayach, Jerusalem
This Issue Contains:
1. Divine Test		4. Folk Music
2. A Grain of Salt	5. Yiddle Riddle
3. Passing Passing	6. Public Domain
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___________Divine Test________________

Yonatan Amit from Kohav-Yair, Israel <Yoniamit@netvision.net.il> wrote:

Dear Rabbi,

Can G-d make me pass the bagrut [matriculation] exams?  Please respond as 
soon as possible.  Thanks in advance.

****************

Dear Yonatan Amit,
	Yes, G-d can do anything.

	But G-d doesn't "like" doing miracles very often.  G-d made natural 
laws and wants us to follow these laws. The word "ha-olam" (the world) is 
related to the world "he'elem" (concealment).  G-d made the world as a 
place in which to "hide," and it is our job to find G-d.  Open miracles 
take away our free will to do this, because they make G-d's existence too 
obvious.

	So, if someone wants G-d to do a miracle, he has to pray for G-d to 
do a hidden miracle.  In your case, for example, you need to study very 
hard, study for as much time as you have, and pray for G-d's help.  Then, 
if G-d does perform a miracle, no one will know!  You yourself may not even 
realize it!

	So, study hard, pray hard, and let me know what happens.


_________A Grain Of Salt_____________

Sandra Block from Scottsdale, AZ <rancher@phnx.uswest.net> wrote:

Dear Rabbi,

I would like to know:  Why do we put salt on bread?  Is it on all types of 
bread or just challah?  Do we say the hamotzi blessing before eating all 
types of bread or only over challah?  Thank you!

Nancy Gomes from Toronto, Ont. <nancy@sierra-inc.com> wrote:

Dear Rabbi,

Every Kabalat Shabbat (Friday night) after hamotzi, we put salt on our 
challa and still don't know how this tradition came to be?

Roi Levine Garshoni <RoiGar@aol.com> wrote:

Dear Rabbi,

Shalom.  The Torah speaks of salt on the sacrifices.  My grandfather, may 
he rest in peace, would always put salt on the bread in the prayer of 
hamotzi.  What significance is salt to a Jew?  Is this the reason Lot's 
wife was turned to salt?  Toda Raba

******************

Dear Sandra Block, Nancy Gomes and Roi Levine Garshoni,

	There are two reasons for dipping bread in salt after saying the 
blessing on the bread.  One is that people sometimes put salt on their 
bread to give it flavor.  This is a matter of taste, not Jewish law.  So, 
if you are going to dip your bread in salt throughout the meal, you should 
certainly dip the first piece in salt.  This is a way of honoring the 
blessing, by making sure that the piece of bread you eat after saying the 
blessing is delicious.  This follows the Torah idea that physical pleasure 
can be used as a vehicle in the service of Hashem.

	Another reason we dip our bread in salt is that when we had the 
Temple and brought offerings on the altar, salt accompanied every offering.  
The significance of salt is that it completes other foods and enhances 
their taste.  Also, it preserves things which would otherwise spoil.  For 
these two reasons, the Torah tells us to salt our offerings:  To offer a 
completed offering, and to symbolize that our offerings help preserve our 
relationship with Hashem.

	We no longer have the altar to atone for us.  Now, our table is our 
"altar," because we share our food with the needy, and this atones for us.  
Since our table is like the altar, we try to keep salt on the table all the 
time.  And we dip our bread in salt the entire week, not only Friday night.

	Lot's wife turned into salt because she was stingy towards the needy.  
Lot himself was a generous person, always inviting guests.  His wife 
resented guests and discouraged them.  One trick of hers was not to provide 
salt, a small thing which makes a big difference to guests.  Therefore, she 
was punished by means of salt, measure for measure.

	And to answer Sandra's last question, we say hamotzi on all types of 
bread, not only on challah.

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__________Passing Passing_____________

Judith Finkelstein from Northridge, CA
<jfinkels@lausd.k12.ca.us> wrote:

Dear Rabbi,

I attended a Jewish funeral today, and the rabbi had each person shovel 3 
shovels-full of dirt into the grave.  The tradition included his 
instructions to specifically put the shovel back in the dirt when finished 
and let the next person proceed.  Is there a certain significance in 
"putting the shovel back into the dirt" instead of passing it directly to 
the next person in line (the next person to shovel dirt)?

************************

Dear Judith Finkelstein,

	There are two reasons for the custom not to pass the spade from one 
to the other.  The first is that on the day that a person is buried, it is 
not considered correct behavior for a person to pass something to another.  
One of the messages to the participants at a funeral is to understand that 
on the day of death we are all equal.  This idea is amplified by placing 
the spade into the earth and not passing it straight to the next person, as 
it denotes a certain dominance over the person who is receiving the spade.  
The second reason is that the time of the burial is a time of great anguish 
and to pass the spade from one to the other would be symbolic of passing 
the anguish.

Sources:
 Ta'amei Haminhagim 489:1025


_______________Folk Music____________________

Chana Rudnick from Chattanooga, TN
 <kgrudnick@juno.com> wrote:

Dear Rabbi,

I play folk instruments and have been thinking of trying to get a job 
playing for people.  My main thought is to see if any hospitals could use 
me.  When I visited my mother in the hospital and played for her, the 
nursing staff thought that would be something that many other patients 
might enjoy.  I also thought it might go over well with children.  Is it 
permissible to play music between Pesach and Shavuot if you are hired to do 
so?

**********************

Dear Chana Rudnick,

	The period from Pesach until Shavuot is a somewhat sad period due to 
historical tragedies which occurred during this time.  I asked your 
question to Rabbi Yisrael Pesach Feinhandler, shlita.  He said yes, you may 
play music between Pesach and Shavuot under these circumstances because you 
are doing so for work, not for your own personal enjoyment.  May you 
continue to bring joy and gladness to the hearts of many.

===========================================================================

Yiddle Riddle

Last week we asked: Women customarily light two Shabbos candles every 
Friday afternoon before sunset.  The Mishnah Berurah (263:7) says that if a 
women forgets to light Shabbos candles, she has to light an extra Shabbos 
candle for the rest of her life.  So, if she forgot to light candles the 
first week, she would have to light three candles the next week.  If she 
forgot the next week as well, then she would need to light four candles the 
third week.  If this continues over a period of 10 weeks, what is the total 
number of candles she will have used during this 10 week period?

 Riddle submitted by Lev Seltzer <levs@virtual.co.il>

Answer: None.

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THE PUBLIC DOMAIN
Comments, quibbles, and reactions 
concerning previous "Ask-the-Rabbi" features.
Re: "The Worst Seder in History" (Ohr Somayach Internet Archives:  
http://www.ohr.org.il/Pesach):

	Beautiful story about the "Worst Seder."  Brought tears to my eyes.

Tsivya <tsivya@usa.net>

*********************************

Re: Medicine on Shabbat, and Pigeons as Hepatitis Treatment (Ohrnet Tazria-
Metzora):

It is absolutely necessary to continue taking antibiotics throughout the 
Shabbat, even if you feel fine.  There is a small but very real danger that 
interrupting the regimen (usually 10 days) will lead to the development of 
drug resistant bacteria.  What is less clear (to me) is the rule regarding 
pills for control of blood pressure which should be taken every day but 
present no obvious danger due to skipping a dose.  Regarding hepatitis, I 
can hardly accept that pigeons work; but my daughter from Bnei Brak assures 
me that they do

Edward Simon  <esimon@bilbo.bio.purdue.edu>
Professor of Biology (Microbiology) Purdue University

*********************************

Re: Daf Yomi Origins (Ohrnet Vayakhel):

Please print the following about Rabbi Moshe Menachem Mendel Spivak 
creating the Daf Yomi? 

	Rav Eliezer Katzman wrote in the Jewish Observer (October 1997) an 
article entitled "An unsung hero -- Rabbi Moshe Menachem Mendel Spivak -- 
The Martyred Originator of the Daf Yomi Concept, who Steered the Folio-a-
day Plan From a Dream to Reality."

	Rabbi Katzman wrote:  "Everyone knows that Rabbi Meir Shapiro 
proposed the Daf Yomi idea at the first Knessia Gedolah in Vienna in 1924, 
but few are aware that the idea was actually proposed in an Agudath Israel 
Publication in December 1920.  One of the first issues of Digleinu (vol. 1 
#7) contained his proposal to organize a world-wide "Chevra Shas" involving 
business men, laborers and workers alike to study a blatt Gemora 
together... His appeal fell on deaf ears... Rabbi Spivak did not give up 
and approached Rabbi Meir Shapiro to broach the subject... When Rabbi 
Shapiro finally presented the Daf Yomi proposal in the electrified 
atmosphere of the Knessia Gedolah... In the excitement of the moment, he 
neglected to mention Rabbi Spivak's name as the originator of the idea.  
Rabbi Shapiro later wrote to Rabbi Spivak apologizing for the fact that he 
did not give him due recognition."

Marc I Spivak <spivakm@juno.com>

*********************************

Re: Yizkor on Yom Tov (Ohrnet Shemini/Pesach):

	In your recent article pertaining to yizkor you attempt to explain 
why we recite it on Yom Tov.  I wish to bring to your attention that the 
reciting of yizkor on Yom Tov is questionable, in spite of the common 
practice to do so.  The Machzor Vitri (I:312 pp. 344-5, I:353 p. 392) 
states emphatically that yizkor should only be said on Yom Kippur and not 
on Yom Tov.  The reason being that since Yom Tov is a day of simchah one 
should not arouse feelings of grief.

Chaim Ozer Chait <ybte@netvision.net.il>


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