Ask The Rabbi
27 June 1998
Issue #198
Parshas Korach
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This publication is available in HTML format at
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Researched at Ohr Somayach, Jerusalem
This Issue Contains:
1. Rabbi Ben E. Diction 	5. Name That Tune
2. Survival of the Jews 	6. Yiddle Riddle
3.  Unveiling 			7. Public Domain
4.  Silver Where?
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____Rabbi Ben E. Diction_____

Name@Withheld from Thornhill, Canada wrote:

Dear Rabbi,

I recently got a blessing from a Chassidic Rabbi.  This blessing was quite 
astonishing (in a good way).  What is the significance of a blessing from a 
Chassidic Rabbi?

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

Dear Name@Withheld,

	In our prayers we say G-d "does the will of those who fear Him."  As 
our Sages teach:  A tzaddik (righteous person) decrees, and Hashem 
fulfills.  Also:  "Anyone who has a sick person in his household should go 
to a chacham (a wise person) to pray for him."

	Grand Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Horowitz (the "Bostoner Rebbe") says that a 
Chassidic Rabbi is in many respects like a plumber.  Hashem wants only to 
bestow goodness upon us, and all a person needs to do is make himself into 
a vessel to receive the good.  But our bad deeds "jam up" the pipes through 
which Divine goodness flows.  A Chassidic Rabbi "unclogs" these pipes for 
the person.

	A righteous person has a power of prayer more than most of us.  Torah 
scholars (Chassidic or not) who have virtually perfected their character 
are known to have such powers.  Until his passing several years ago, tens 
of thousands flocked to Rabbi Yaakov Yisrael Kanievsky (the "Steipler") for 
his blessing.

	It's known that prior to their highly dangerous but successful air 
strike on the Iraqi nuclear reactor in 1980, the Israeli pilots appeared 
before the Steipler and asked for his blessing.  He told them "go in peace 
and return in peace."

Sources:
* Bava Batra 116a
* Ta'anit 23a
* Survival of the Jews

____Survival of the Jews____

Sam Sherman from Brantford, Ontario <trapro@execulink.com> wrote:

Dear Rabbi,
I go to a private high school and I'm the only Jew.  I always answer my 
friends' questions about Judaism, but I couldn't answer this one that they 
had asked me the other day and I was wondering if you could help me out.  
The question was "How come the Jewish people are still around after the 
thousands of years of persecution, enslavement, mass murder and all."  I 
was stumped.

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

Dear Sam Sherman,

	The Torah has kept us together, giving us a moral, intellectual and 
social structure, and giving us purpose and meaning in life.  But more 
importantly, G-d has helped us survive, in order for us to accomplish our 
purpose, which is the propagation of ethical monotheism.

	I suggest downloading a book from our website (it's free) called 
"Living Up to the Truth" by Rabbi Dr. Dovid Gottlieb: 
www.ohr.org.il/special/books/gott/truth.htm

____Unveiling____

Name@Withheld from Merrick, NY <NameWithheld@aol.com> wrote:

Dear Rabbi,

Please excuse me if I in any way insult or embarrass you or myself.  I am 
of little means and have had no formal instruction in the Jewish ways.  As 
a child I attended religious instruction in the Bronx, New York. For my 
Bar-Mitzvah I received some private instruction in the reading of the 
necessary prayers and portion of the Torah I was to read.  That is the 
extent of my religious instruction.

The problem my brother and I face is that my mother died a year ago and we 
will be holding the unveiling of her stone soon.  Neither of us are members 
of any congregation and have no access to a Rabbi.  Equally important, 
after the cost of the burial and the cost of the stone we do not have $500 
to "hire" a Rabbi for the unveiling ceremony.  Are there some prayers we 
can read aloud at the unveiling so that we do not disgrace the honor of our 
mother?  Please be so kind as to advise what we can do?  I would be so very 
grateful.

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

Dear Name@Withheld,

	There is no need for the services to be conducted by a Rabbi.  You 
and your brother will do perfectly.  Go to a Jewish book store and buy a 
small prayer-book containing the appropriate prayers and the proper 
instructions.

	It would be good to bring to the ceremony another few friends (10 
Jewish male adults including you and your brother).  May G-d console you 
both, together with the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem.

____Silver Where?____

Yaakov Bock from Brooklyn, NY <ilduce@panix.com> wrote:

Dear Rabbi,

I hear stories about people accidentally using a dairy fork with a meat 
meal, or vice versa, and sticking it in a flower pot to render it kosher.  
What's the story with planting silverware for kashrut?

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

Dear Yaakov Bock,

	The idea you heard about is often misunderstood.  It is called 
ne'itza (plunging).

	Ne'itza is sometimes necessary to cleanse knives of tiny particles of 
oily residue.  This is more true of knives, since people tend to scrub them 
more gingerly than other silverware.  If the knife is plunged into firm 
earth ten times it is assumed to be clean.

	This only cleans the surface.  It does not, however, expunge an 
absorbed flavor.  For instance, if a milk knife cuts hot meat, the knife 
absorbs meat flavor.  Plunging it into firm earth doesn't help in this 
case; rather, the knife must be cleaned and immersed in boiling water.

Source:
* Shulchan Aruch Yoreh De'ah 89

____Name That Tune____

Peter Fr"hlich from Switzerland <pfroehlich@paus.ch> wrote:

Dear Rabbi,

Shalom.  As a harpist I am interested in those psalms, which David once 
played before King Saul.  Do you know if some of these original psalms in 
the original tunes are still known?  Three years ago I was there in Israel.  
I got some psalm-songs in a museum in Jerusalem, but I am not sure if they 
are original.  Many greetings.

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

Dear Peter Fr"hlich,

	I don't know what songs or melodies David sang for King Saul.

	In a traditional book of the Bible in Hebrew, you will find markings 
on most of the words.  These markings are the cantillation symbols which 
indicate the melody.

	There are four different groups of melodies indicated by these 
symbols:

* The Pentateuch
* The Prophets
* The Five Scrolls
* The Books of Job, Proverbs, and Psalms

	The melodies of the first three groups are well known and used.  
There are various customs regarding these melodies.

	The melody for Job, Proverbs and Psalms has unfortunately been 
forgotten by most of Jewry.  Yemenite Jews, however, have a traditional 
melody for these books as well.

	Ever heard the expression "soul music?"  It's a Jewish idea: Our 
sources say that the melody is to the written words of Torah what the soul 
is to the body.

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Yiddle Riddle

Last week we asked: This morning in shul, I noticed that during chazarat 
hashatz (cantor's repetition of the silent prayer) I responded "amen" 26 
times.  However, my one friend responded "amen" only 22 times, and my other 
friend only three times!  Can you explain why?  (By the way, we all had 
finished our silent prayer completely, we all paid attention during the 
entire repetition, and we all responded properly.)

Answer:  It was Rosh Chodesh, and we were in Jerusalem where kohanim bless 
the people every day by saying birkas kohanim.  Therefore, I answered 26 
times:  19 blessings of shemoneh esrei, 4 during birkat kohanim and 3 
during ya'ale v'yavo.  My one friend was a kohen, and therefore didn't say 
amen to the birkat kohanim, so he answered just 22 times.  My other friend 
was the chazan, and he answered amen only to the 3 priestly blessings.  
(See Mishna Berura O.C. 128:17 Shaar Hatzion 61 that a chazan using a 
siddur can respond to the 3 blessings of birkat kohanim but not to the 
actual blessing of the kohen.)

Submitted by Rabbi Avraham Connack, Jerusalem

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The Public Domain

Comments, quibbles, and reactions 
concerning previous "Ask-the-Rabbi" features

Re: Salt In Bread (Ask the Rabbi #192):

	Another reason I have heard for why salt was offered with each 
offering:  The world is composed of three parts:  sea, midbar (desert) and 
arable, inhabited land.  The Torah was given in the midbar and all of the 
sacrifices come from the land (in addition, the Beit Hamikdash was built in 
an inhabited place).  So the sea came to Hashem and complained that it was 
being left out.  To placate the sea (or to ensure the completeness that the 
offerings are supposed to create) salt was offered with the offerings in 
the Beit Hamikdash according to the Torah given in the Midbar.

	Another explanation that comes to mind is:  salty tears as in sowing 
with tears and reaping with joy.  So we offer the tears with the fruit of 
our labors acknowledging that it all comes from Hashem.   Thanks for an 
entertaining and informative email publication.

 Nancy Wells <nwells@objs.com>

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

Re: Dove Peace Symbol (Ask the Rabbi #193):

	Regarding the dove as a symbol of peace, I draw attention to the fact 
that Jeremiah utilizes the phrase "the sword of the dove" (46:16 and 
50:16).  Our commentators write that the Hebrew root for "yonah" (dove) 
actually indicates either "oppression" (ona'ah) or "wine" (ya'in) 
[indicating a sword, blood-red as if from wine], or even refers to the fact 
that the Babylonian kings employed the dove as one of their symbols of 
rule.  

Yisrael Medad <isrmedia@netvision.net.il>

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

Re:  Olden Day Cleansers (Ask The Rabbi #196):

	A friend who visited Cape Cod attended a lecture about the Mayflower.  
She learned about "fuller's earth" which the pilgrims used to remove oil 
from cloth.  Apparently, it is a great absorber.  I find it fascinating 
that soiled/stained priestly garments were used as wicks of the menorah!  I 
have never heard of this before.  It seems very practical to me.

 Sandra Block, Scottsdale, Arizona <rancher@phnx.uswest.net>

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

Re: Help me Grow!

	My name is Saritt; I studied in Israel and am now in Monterrey, a 
city in Mexico that only has 120 Jewish families and none is religious.  
Because of this, I feel somewhat lonely and I can't keep growing in Torah 
because I have nothing here, so please, please send me all the shiurim and 
Parashat Hashavua that you can.  Thank's alot!  Tizku L'mitzvot! 

 Saritt Back<abrahamb@acnet.net>



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