Ask The Rabbi
18 July 1998
Issue #201
Parshas Pinchas
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This publication is available in HTML format at
http://www.ohr.org.il/ask/ask201.htm
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Researched at Ohr Somayach, Jerusalem
This Issue Contains:
1. In-Laws and Shabbat Law	 	5. Goliath's Skull 
2. Two Tickets to Lotteryville		6. Yiddle Riddle
3. Masada and Suicide			7. Public Domain
4. Charity Blessing                   
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____In-Laws and Shabbat Law____

Name@Withheld wrote:

Dear Rabbi,

I live in Netanya.  I work 12 hours every day.  My wife works.  I visit my 
in-laws in Tel Aviv occasionally.  The kids are small.  Ages 4 & 8.  They 
cannot be up late.  The in-laws are old.  They cannot be up late.  We 
cannot stay there over the weekend.  No room and no patience!  I drive to 
Tel Aviv once a month on Saturday for my wife to see her parents and for my 
kids to see her side of the family.  I see no other way.  Saturday is the 
only day when it is possible to travel to Tel Aviv.  I have no intention to 
live in Tel Aviv.  I think I am acting morally and ethically.  What can I 
do?

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

Dear Name@Withheld

	You are a hard working man and I admire you for that.  And I admire 
your intentions:  You want to observe Shabbat and you also want to respect 
your wife's parents.

	And your argument is very convincing; so convincing, in fact, that 
the Torah devotes an entire verse to refute it:  The verse says "A person 
must respect his mother and his father and must observe My Sabbaths, I am 
the L-rd your G-d."  (Leviticus 19:3).  Our Sages explain the verse as 
follows:  If your parent tells you to break the Sabbath, you must not 
listen.  Why not?  Because "I am the L-rd, your G-d" -- i.e., your father 
has no right to command you to break G-d's commandments.

	So even if your own parents demand that you visit them on Shabbat, 
you aren't allowed to violate Shabbat to do so.  The same goes for your 
wife's parents.

	Therefore, you must find another solution to your problem.  Have you 
ever tried explaining your dilemma to your employers?  Maybe they will give 
you one day off per month.  Or perhaps half a day is enough.  Why not 
consider moving?  Maybe you will find a better job in Tel Aviv.

	If you sincerely try to keep Shabbat without any excuses or 
rationalizations, I promise you that you will experience an extra measure 
of Divine assistance in your efforts to do so.


____Two Tickets to Lotteryville____

Havah <havah@netvision.net.il> wrote:

Dear Rabbi,

Hi.  In a recent "Ask the Rabbi" you wrote "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."  I was told that Orthodox Jews are not allowed to 
put more than one ticket in a box at a Chinese auction (popular Israeli 
fund-raiser) or to buy more than one lottery ticket per week because it 
shows a lack of faith in G-d.  What I quoted above from "Ask the Rabbi" 
seems to indicate that this is not true.  How do I know if Hashem wants to 
prove to me the laws of statistics work or if I should be proving my faith 
by only putting one ticket in the box?  Thanks.  

PS I love this publication.

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

Dear Havah,

	First of all, buying multiple tickets and winning the lottery doesn't 
prove the laws of statistics.  Neither does buying one ticket and losing.  
Second of all, buying more than one lottery ticket does not show a lack of 
faith.  However, it does seem a waste of money, unless the money goes to a 
good cause.


____Masada and Suicide____

Marisa Yentel from Cordoba, Argentina <myentel@yahoo.com> wrote:

Dear Rabbi,

Hello, My name is Marisa Yentel, I am from Cordoba Argentina.  My question 
is:  If the Torah orders us to choose life, and this is against suicide, I 
wanted to know what is the Torah's point of view in relation to what 
happened at Masada.  I wanted to know also sources on the matter.  Thanks.

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

Dear Marisa Yentel,

	It's interesting to note that the Mishna and Gemara, both written 
after the events of Masada, make no mention of it.  I believe the reason 
for this is that no one really knew what went on at Masada.  All we have is 
the account of Josephus in "The Jewish Wars," much of which is probably 
from his imagination.

	If the Jews on Masada committed suicide only for the sake of evading 
capture or ignominy, then it would be forbidden.  If however they were 
worried that they would be tortured and thereby forced to worship idols or 
participate in immorality, they would be justified in committing suicide.  
Since no one knows what their motivation was, we can neither approve nor 
condemn their action, and hence the Talmud's silence on this issue.

Sources:

* Sanhedrin 74a


____Charity Blessing____

Barnet Shapiro from Cape Town, South Africa <shapiro@iafrica.com> wrote:

Dear Rabbi,

Why do we not say a beracha [blessing] when giving tzedakka [charity]?

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

Dear Barnet Shapiro,

	Your question is dealt with by the early commentators.  One answer 
given is as follows:  One does not make a beracha on an action which is 
dependent on another person's acceptance, as there is a chance that the 
other person might not accept and hence the beracha would in vain.

Sources:

* Teshuvot Rashba Vol. 1 ch. 18, 254 and Vol. 3 ch. 283 and affiliated to 
Ramban 189
* Ketuboth 40a


____Goliath's Skull____

Michael Vincen Obar from Sisters, Oregon <mic_o@juno.com> wrote:

Dear Rabbi,

I heard rumors of Goliath's skull being found in the wailing wall and would 
like to know if the rumors are rumors or if they're true.  If it's true, 
can you also give me details?

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

Dear Michael Vincen Obar,

	Actually it is impossible that Goliath's skull or anything would be 
buried in the vicinity of the Western Wall for two reasons:  

	1) No one was ever buried in the Old City of Jerusalem.  
	2) The Temple had to be pure, and any dead body (or parts thereof) 
would be a source of ritual defilement.  

	In the Book of Samuel I, 17:54-55 it states that David brought the 
head to Jerusalem to show Saul, but it does not state anything about the 
burial site.  The sword of Goliath was actually placed in the Temple later 
as a reminder of the miracle (Radak, ad loc.)

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Yiddle Riddle

Please fill in the missing 5 numbers in the following sequence:

15, 16, 115, 116, 215, 216,___, ___, ___, ___, ___ , ___, 315, 316.

* Riddle Submitted by Lev Seltzer <levella@csi.com>

Answer next week.

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

Re:  Si, Si, Signor (Ask #194): 

	There's no prohibition against naming a son after a living father.  
Wouldn't there be a halachic problem in that children are not supposed to 
use their parents' names in their parents' presence?  The siblings of such 
a child would violate this when using  their brother's name in their 
parents' presence.

Basya Meyer <batya@ligatureltd.com>

Ohrnet responds:

	You are correct that this is a consideration.  One solution would be 
for the father to forgo his honor in this regard.
**********

Re: Ohel and Fuller (Ask 196):

	Thank you for the lovely Ohrnet on Parshas Beha'aloscha that I picked 
up at the minyan of Bnei Yeshivot in Telz-Stone.  Some comments:  Ahal is 
not ohel:  It occurs in the plural (ahalos or ahalim) with a chataf-patach 
under the alef and a kamatz under the heh, indicating that the singular 
should have a kamatz under each (like davar/d'varim), and so should be 
written ahal, and not confused with ohel, a tent.

	In Parshas Balak, I note that according to the above, a ba'al korei 
who reads "k-ohalim nitayu" instead of "k-ahalim (or k-aholim) nitayu" will 
change the meaning and his congregation will not have fulfilled the 
requirement of the reading of the Torah.

	Ahal is probably Aloe, the "aloe vera" that is now a popular 
ingredient in shampoos, including some sold here in Israel.

	On another note, although you are right that a follar is mentioned in 
Yerusalmi Pe'ah as a (very small) coin current in the time of the Talmud, 
the "fuller" of which Ms. Block heard were probably those people called 
"fullers" in English, people whose job was making used woolen garments look 
more like new (more "full") -- people who would today be called dry 
cleaners.  The term "fuller" is often used in translations and English 
commentaries for these people (see Isaiah 7:3).  For that matter, the Mr. 
Fuller who started the brush company probably got his name because an 
ancestor had been a fuller.

David M. Schaps <dschaps@mail.biu.ac.il>
Kollel Chachmei Lublin of B'nei B'rak  
Department of Classical Studies Bar Ilan University
Ramat Gan, Israel

**********

Ohrnet Lights Up the Internet

I think it's great that you have this web site so that both observant and 
non- observant people with the Internet can have something worthwhile to 
read.  Also I think that your regular feature, "The Other Side of the 
Story" gives a person a different lookout on life; for example, not judging 
as quickly as we may want to.

J. Krakauer <bh.J.Krakauer@MCI2000.com>

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