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30 May 1998 
Issue #194 
===========================================================================
This publication is available in HTML format at
http://www.ohr.org.il/ask/ask193.htm
===========================================================================
Researched at Ohr Somayach, Jerusalem
This Issue Contains:
1. Gifts.doc                       5. "And Let Us Say..."
2.  Sum-buddies		6. Yiddle Riddle
3.  Black and White Fire	7. Public Domain
4. Si, Si, Senior          	
===========================================================================

______Gifts.doc____________


Michael Reuben from Manchester, UK <Michael.M.Reuben@stud.man.ac.uk> wrote:

Dear Rabbi,

Is it permissible for a doctor to accept free gifts from a drug company?  
As a little background, many drug companies offer gifts -- pens, diaries, 
clocks, etc. --  to doctors in order to advertise their products.  This 
obviously influences (to some extent) the choice of prescription and I 
would like to know whether or not this constitutes a bribe.  Would it be 
different for a medical student (who receives gifts but cannot prescribe 
medication)?

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

Dear Michael Reuben,

	I asked your question to Rabbi Yaakov Yosef Auerbach, shlita.  He 
cited the Talmud (Bava Batra 21b) which states that a store owner may hand 
out sweets and nuts to drum up business.  He said that this applies to the 
drug companies as well.

	The reason that these gifts are not considered bribes, Rabbi Auerbach 
explained, is that the pharmaceutical companies do not intend the doctors 
to prescribe medicine that is inappropriate or unnecessary.  They are 
merely trying to influence doctors to prescribe their products as opposed 
to similar products manufactured by competing pharmaceutical companies.

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

Sum-buddies

Avi Ziskind from South Africa <az@uctvms.uct.ac.za> wrote:

Dear Rabbi,

When the Torah records the counting of the Jewish People, it rounds off the 
numbers to the nearest 50.  I find this hard to understand.  If one of the 
purposes of the counting is for Hashem to show His love for each individual 
Jew, like a king who counts and recounts his precious jewels, how can the 
Torah round off the numbers just for "neatness" as it seems to be doing, 
seemingly disregarding the exact number of people, and rather giving us a 
general idea?

Mel Friedman from San Antonio, Texas <melf@txdirect.net> wrote:

Dear Rabbi,
There is a census taken at the beginning and end of Bamidbar.  The 
confusing part for me is why are all the numbers apparently rounded to the 
nearest hundred?

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

Dear Avi Ziskind and Mel Friedman,

    When the Torah lists the number of people in each of the 12 tribes in 
Parshat Bamidbar, each number is a multiple of either 50 or 100.  There are 
differing views regarding whether or not these numbers are exact.  One view 
is that the Torah rounded off the numbers.  This isn't surprising 
considering that the Torah does this in other places as well.  For example, 
the Torah says to "Count 50 days" between Pesach and Shavuot, when in 
reality there are only 49.

	Counting the nation benefited the community and the individual.  When 
the individual passed before Moshe and Aharon, Moshe and Aharon would bless 
the person and pray for him.  This itself was a tremendous benefit for the 
person.  Furthermore, each person was counted via his own half-shekel 
donation, and this served as an atonement for him.  These individual 
benefits were in no way diminished by the fact that the Torah reports 
rounded numbers.

	The communal benefit of the counting was similar to the benefit of 
any census, which helps the leaders decide how to best serve the needs of 
the community and tells how many people are available for military service.  
This was important for the Jewish People who were preparing to war against 
the Canaanites, and therefore needed to know their own military might.  In 
this sense, round numbers suffice.

Sources:
 Sefer HaParshiot, Eliyahu KiTov Bamidbar p. 33
 Ramban 1:45

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

______Black And White Fire______
	
Ron Cohen <capnrcg@aol.com> wrote:

Dear Rabbi,

	We are preparing a tour of Jewish artists for the Philadelphia Museum 
of Art.  This is a world class museum with very little on Jewish art or 
artists.  One artist mentions "black fire white fire" as the inspiration 
for one of his paintings.  He says it is from the Zohar.  Can you please 
give me some references or some other information on this?  I can not find 
it.  Thank You.

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

Dear Ron Cohen,

	In the Zohar we find a statement that the Torah was written with 
"black fire upon white fire."  One explanation of "black fire and white 
fire" is that black fire denotes Divine Mercy while white fire is Divine 
Justice.  The Maharsha explains that to appreciate G-d one must recognize 
the fact that both mercy and judgment are Divine attributes.

	Interestingly, the concept of colored fire recurs in Midrashic 
literature.  According to the Midrash, G-d showed Moshe the menorah made 
out of white, green, red and black fire.

Sources:

  Zohar 3 Parshat Naso page 132a
  Devarim Rabbah Parsha 3
  Tanchuma, Parshat Shemini 10
  Maharsha, Tractate Berachot 33a


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

Si, Si, Senior

George Wiley from Baldwin City, Kansas gbwiley@idir.net> wrote:

Dear Rabbi,

	I read in the paper that when Edgar Bronfman, Sr., named his son 
Edgar Bronfman, Jr., he violated a Jewish belief against naming a son after 
his father.  Assuming that the newspaper report was correct in this regard, 
what is the basis for this prohibition?

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

Dear George Wiley,

	There's no prohibition against naming a son after a living father.  
However, it is the custom of Jews of European descent not to name children 
after living relatives. If they name the child after a relative, their 
custom is to name the child after a deceased relative, as if to say that 
this child will carry on their tradition.

	The Jews of the Middle East, North Africa and Asia do name children 
after living relatives, and they consider it a great honor to have a child 
named for them.  However, they too generally refrain from naming a child 
after a living parent.  Usually grandparents are the first ones honored by 
having a child named for them.

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

"And Let Us Say..."

Leetal Rivlin from Katzrin, Golan Heights, Israel <rivlin@canaan.co.il> 
wrote:

Dear Rabbi,

	What are the origins of the word amen?  When does it first appear in 
the Torah?  When does it first appear in other religious practices?  Thank 
you.

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

Dear Leetal Rivlin,

	"Amen" first appears in the Torah in Bamidbar, Numbers, in chapter 5, 
verse 22:  "And the woman shall say `amen, amen'."  The context there is 
that a woman is being administered an oath.  Saying amen is her acceptance 
of the oath as true, and that she accepts the consequences of the oath if 
she is lying.  In this sense, the word amen means "true."

	The letters of amen, "alef mem nun," are also seen by our Sages as an 
acrostic hinting to the phrase "(K)el Melech Ne'eman" -- "G-d, the faithful 
King."

	Perhaps the first place it can be seen as said in a "religious" 
ritual is at the end of Psalm 41, which ends the first of the five books of 
Psalms.  There, King David says, "Blessed is the L-rd, G-d of Israel, for 
ever and ever; amen and amen."  This verse is very similar to what we call 
a "blessing," and it ends with "amen."

	Sources indicate that amen was said after blessings at least as early 
as the beginning of the Second Temple period.  There's no evidence that 
this was when it was first introduced, and it very likely goes back much 
farther.

Sources:

  Talmud, Tractate Shabbat 119b, Ta'anit 16b

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

Yiddle Riddle

	Last week we asked: When is the only time one would say "Av 
Harachamim" two days in a row?  (Av Harachamim is the prayer which, 
according to the Askenazic custom, is generally said on Shabbat before 
musaf).

Riddle submitted by Dr. Joel Luber, Bayit Vegan, Jerusalem

Answer : 

	In Eretz Yisrael, when Erev Shavuot falls on Shabbat, Av Harachamim 
is said on Shabbat, and again on Sunday -- Shavuot -- as part of Yizkor 
(Ashkenazic custom).

	Though Av Harachamim is usually omitted on a Shabbat falling on a day 
when Tachanun would be omitted were it a weekday, it is nonetheless recited 
the Shabbat before Shavuot, even if it is Erev Yom Tom.  This is because 
the massacres of Rhineland Jewry during the First Crusade reached their 
peak in the beginning of Sivan.

	Originally, Av Harachamim was  recited on only one or two Shabbatot 
during the year, the Shabbatot before Shavuot and before Tisha B'Av.  This 
is still the custom of many German Jewish communities and the United 
Synagogues of Great Britain.  As persecutions and martyrdom continued 
throughout the centuries, its recital was extended to most Shabbatot.

Source:

  Bein Pesach L'Shavuot  by Rabbi Zvi Cohen, ch. 3, paragraphs 6,13,14

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

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

Re: Yiddle Riddle (Ohrnet Tzav):

	Regarding names in Megillat Esther also appearing as names in the 
Chumash, I found two more that you omitted:  Shimi (Exodus 6:17 & Esther 
2:5), and Avichayil (Numbers 3:35 & Esther 2:15).

Chaim, Levin, Jerusalem

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

Re: Mosquitoes (Ohrnet Tzav):

	I heard from Rav Moshe Aharon Stern, zatzal, a pshat that he learned 
from Rav Shraga Feivel Mendelowitz, zatzal.  The students were sitting 
outdoors on a hot summer evening studying with Rav Mendelowitz and the boys 
were being constantly pestered by "thousands of mosquitoes."  Rav Shraga 
Feivel couldn't understand why the boys couldn't sit still since he 
couldn't see the bugs in the dark and for some reason he wasn't being 
affected by them.  The next day they were again sitting with the Rav 
learning Sefer Mishlei.  They came to the verse (16:7) "When a man's ways 
please the L-rd, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him."  Rav 
Shraga Feivel quoted a Midrash that "even his enemies" refers to mosquitoes 
and other insects.  The students realized that this was a Heavenly message 
which explained the events of the previous evening while simultaneously 
revealing to them at least one aspect of their Rabbi's true greatness.

Shaul Gutstein, Har Nof, Jerusalem

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    N      +  r        #  o      C  T  U       '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '            -  3            )  7  8                  !  j      J  Z  [  p  q          X        "  l                     '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '            -    j  k  z  {            Y                =        E  F      "  n              9  @  A  M  N               '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '            -      Z      ;  u  v             U         9!  `!  a!  !  !  <"  E"  F"  O"  P"  }"  ~"  "  "  "  "  #  ]#  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  ;$  $  $  $  $   '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '                                                                                                                                                                                                                              -$  /%  y%  %  %  %  )&  u&  &  '  H'  I'  Q'  R'  '  '  '  '  '  (  J(  K(  l(  m(  (  (  -)  .)  F)  G)  i)  j)  )  )  )  *  e*  *  *  ;+  +  +  ,  d,  ,  ,                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           -,  @-  A-  d-  e-  -  -  .  Y.  .  .  */  Z/  /  /  /  =0  0  0  0  0  A1  m1  n1  1  1  1  ,2  g2  2  2  "3  k3  3  3  <4  4  4  4  4  <5  S5  5  5  26  u6                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           -u6  6  6  7  g7  7  7  7  8  S8  8  8  8  8  9  B9  9  9                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           K        @  Normal     a	                   " A@ " Default Paragraph Font                        	  l    8    
    *    N           9      
        $  ,  u6  9      ! " # $ % A Office of Communications%\\SERVER\VOL1\DOC\INET\ask\ASK194.txt@Okidata OL-400e \\SERVER\OKI_COMP_ROOM HPPCL Okidata OL-400e Okidata OL-400e                   @ g  	         ,  ,                                                                                 @ MSUDOkidata OL-400e                               d 
   Okidata OL-400e                   @ g  	         ,  ,                                                                                 @ MSUDOkidata OL-400e                               d 
                            1   Times New Roman  Symbol &  Arial "  1    h    %\%           >.       b                      L#    ,        Office of Communications                                                         	   
         
                                                             !   "   #   $   %   &   '   ,   4   R o o t   E n t r y   y~     	           F    *4`=+   @  x	}	W o r d D o c u m e n t   													
	




       J
O
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^
c
h
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r
w
|







    O  

 C o m p O b j   




!&+05:?DINS	                              j     S u m m a r y I n f o r m a t i o n         !  "  # (     '  (  )  *                       0                      
          
   	           F   Microsoft Word Document 
   MSWordDoc    Word.Document.6 9q                                                         Oh +'0                                                        	          
   <     H  
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