Ask The Rabbi
25 July 1998
Issue #202
Parshas Matos Masei
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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. Mothers and Fathers			4. Yiddle Riddle 
2. Peace in Triplicate - Shabbat	5. Public Domain 
3. Peace in Triplicate - Family			
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____Mothers and Fathers____

Nathan Silberstein from Los Angeles, CA <nsilberstein@ibm.net> wrote:

Dear Rabbi,

What is the halachic source of matrilineal descent?  Why are we set against 
patrilineal descent when all of our ancestors in the Torah are referred to 
as so and so son of so and so, referring only to the father's name?

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

Dear Nathan Silberstein,

	In the time of the Patriarchs it appears that descent followed the 
father.  However, the period of the Patriarchs was before the giving of the 
Torah on Mount Sinai.  It was only with the revelation on Sinai that the 
Jewish people received their legal system.  Therefore it is impossible to 
bring Halachic, legal proofs from the Patriarchs.  Our source for Halacha 
is the Written and Oral Torah.

	The Mishna in Tractate Kiddushin 66b states that if a child's mother 
is not Jewish, then the child is not Jewish.

	The Babylonian Talmud, Kiddushin 68b, derives this Halacha from a 
verse in Deuteronomy 7:1-5, which also contains the prohibition against 
intermarriage.  "When the L-rd your G-d brings you to the land that you 
will inherit, many nations will fall away before you; the Hittites, the 
Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Prizites, the Hivites and 
the Jebusites... And you shall not marry with them; do not give your 
daughters to his sons and do not take his daughters for your sons.  For he 
will turn your son away from me and they will worship other gods...."  The 
Talmud points out that the verse only seems to be concerned with the son of 
the Israelite woman being turned away, "for he (the gentile)" will turn 
your son away.  It does not seem to be concerned that "she (the gentile) 
will turn your son away."  The implication is that the son of the Jewish 
woman and gentile man is still considered "your (the Jewish grandfather in 
this case) son," but in the case of a gentile woman married to a Jewish 
man, the child is not considered "your son" and therefore there is no 
concern about his turning away.  This follows Rashi and Tosfot Ri Hazaken 
in their explanation of the Gemara.

	Tosfot (ad loc. "Amar krah") offers a number of different methods of 
derivation from the verse, but agrees with the conclusion.  This law is 
also found in the Mishna in Yevamot (ch. 2, 21a): "He counts as a brother 
in every respect unless he was the son of a maidservant or of a gentile 
woman."

	This halacha is codified in the Code of Jewish Law, Even HaEzer 8:5, 
and in Maimonides' Mishneh Torah, Laws of Forbidden Relationships, 15:4. 
Maimonides states:  "This is the general rule:  The status of an offspring 
from a gentile man or from a gentile woman is the same as his mother's;  we 
disregard the father."

	Another source in the Torah is the verse in Leviticus 24:10:  "the 
son of an Israelite woman went out -- and he was the son of an Egyptian 
man."  This person is described as being "in the midst of the community of 
Israel" -- in other words, Jewish.

	Probably the most explicit verse against patrilineal descent is in 
the book of Ezra 10:2-3:  Some of the Jews who had returned from the exile 
declare, "We have trespassed against our G-d and have taken foreign wives 
of the people of the land.  Yet, there is hope in Israel concerning this 
thing.  Therefore, let us make a covenant with our G-d to put away all the 
wives and such as are born to them, according to the counsel of the L-rd 
and of those who assemble at the commandment of G-d; let it be done 
according to the law."

	Sources are also in Midrash Rabbah, Numbers, 19, and Jerusalem 
Talmud, Kiddushin 3:12.

	Do we ignore the father completely?  Certainly not.  The father is 
the one who determines what tribe the child is from.  That is:  Kohen, 
Levi, Yisrael.  Also, in determining royalty and other leadership roles 
among the Jewish people we go from father to son.


____Peace in Triplicate - Shabbat____

Moshe Pripas from Jerusalem <pripas@netvision.net.il> wrote:

Dear Rabbi,

Three years ago my mother-in-law asked why we say "Shalom Aleichem" (Peace 
unto You) on Friday night three times.  I gave the reason for being a 
"chazaka" (emphasis) but that itself wasn't satisfying.  Since then I have 
asked lots of people and nobody ever gave me a different answer.

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

Dear Moshe Pripas,

	The Likutei Maharich asks your question.  He explains as you did, 
that repeating something three times adds emphasis.  We do the same in 
other parts of our liturgy, such as in kiddush levana and the bedtime 
shema.

	But I've heard another answer:  The Talmud states that two angels 
accompany a person as he walks home from synagogue Friday night.  These 
angels are in addition to the usual angel who accompanies him at all times.  
Hence, we have three angels in all.  Thus we recite "Shalom Aleichem" one 
time for each angel.

	The problem with this answer is that people are usually accompanied 
by two angels at all times, making four in all.  This can be answered 
according to the Zohar, which states that not two angels but rather two 
groups of angels accompany a man on Friday night.  These, in addition to 
the usual group of two angels which accompany the person at all times, give 
us three groups in all.  We recite one "Shalom Aleichem" for each group.  
This also explains the use of the plural "aleichem" -- "unto You (plural)" 
-- as well.

Sources:

* See Tractate Menachot 65a and Rashi ibid.
* Tractate Shabbat 119b
* Tractate Berachot 60b, Rashi ibid.


____Peace in Triplicate - Family____

Name@Withheld from Mexico wrote:

Dear Rabbi,

Hi!  Well, I have two questions:  I'm a ba'alat teshuva for almost two 
years and my parents are not very happy now.  Because I just finished high 
school in a Jewish secular school here in Mexico and I think it's time to 
study Torah full time.  I'm sure that the best place is Israel, in 
Jerusalem.  But my parents don't want me to go there.  But I want to go!   
What can I do?  How can I get their permission?  Because I don't want to go 
without their permission; it will be very difficult for me and also for 
them.  And the other question is:  Where can I go?  Do you have a school 
for girls?  If you do, please, I beg you to send me all the information as 
soon as possible.  Thank you very much.

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

Dear Name@Withheld,

	It is wonderful that you want to study Torah, and to do so in Israel.  
Israel may definitely be the best place for you to study.

	You asked:  "How can I get my parents' permission?"  I guess this is 
going to sound pretty obvious, but the only way to "get" your parents 
permission is for them to "give" it to you.  And the only way you can 
possibly hope for them to give their permission is through clear and mature 
communication.  You need to understand clearly why they object to your 
going to Israel.

	Are they afraid that it's not safe in Israel?  Are they worried that 
you will not be in a supervised environment?  Or are they afraid that you 
will like Israel and decide to live here, far away from them?  Perhaps they 
are afraid that in Israel you will become "more religious" and therefore 
you won't love them as much because they are "less religious"?

	Try to find out the real underlying reason they don't want you to 
come.  If their main fear is that their "little girl" is growing up and 
becoming her own woman, you need to reassure them that wherever you go and 
whatever path you take, you will continue to love and respect them.

	Is there is a Rabbi who you know and whom your parents respect?  If 
so, perhaps your parents would be willing to get together with him and talk 
things over.

	Do research and find out which school or schools you might wish to 
attend.  If you have brochures and information about a school in Israel, 
perhaps your parents will feel better about it.

	Do you want a Spanish-speaking program or an English-speaking 
program?  I suggest the following two schools:  Spanish-speaking -- Ayelet 
Hashachar, Mrs. Rivka Trop -972-2-582-5036; English-speaking -- Neve 
Yerushalayim, Rabbi Chalkovsky - 972-2-651-9276.  If you want brochures 
from these schools, send me your mailing address and I will mail them to 
you.

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Yiddle Riddle

Last week we asked:

Please fill in the missing 5 numbers in the following sequence:  15, 16, 
115, 116, 215, 216,___, ___, ___, ___, ___ , 315, 316.

Answer: 270, 272, 275, 304 and 309. Why:

	Numbers in Hebrew are written by combining the letters.  For example 
aleph=1, bet=2, yud=10, kuf=100, etc.  So, 11 would be yud-aleph.  However, 
some numbers are not written in the normal form.  15 would normally be 
written yud and hey, but because this spells a name of Hashem, it is 
customarily written tet-vav (as in Tu B'Shvat).  The same is true of tet-
zayin, 16, instead of yud and vav. All the given numbers in the question 
are written in reverse order.

	The numbers 270, 272, 275, 304 and 309 are also numbers which are not 
written in the normal pattern, because the normal pattern would spell a 
word with negative connotations.  270 and 275 would normally be spelled 
raysh ayin and raysh ayin hey.  These spell ra and ra'ah, both of which 
mean "bad".  272 would normally be spelled resh ayin bet which spells ra'av 
meaning "famine."  304 would normally be spelled shin dalet which spells 
shaid meaning "demon."  309 would normally be spelled shin tet which spells 
shat meaning "to go astray."  Since the normal way to write these numbers 
spells words with negative connotations, these numbers are written in 
reverse order.

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

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

Re: "An Open Book Test" (Torah Weekly, Parshas Shlach):

	It was brought to our attention that the Rabbi in the story "An Open 
Book Test" (Ohrnet Shlach) was Rabbi Noach Weinberg, shlita.

**********

Re: Carrying out in a Holiday Inn (Ask #197):

	Thank you very much for your terrific publications.  In Ask the Rabbi 
Parshas Shlach you ruled in the name of Rabbi Zalman Nechemia Goldberg, 
shlita, that it is permissible to carry inside a hotel.  I want to point 
out that Rabbi Weiss, author of the "Minchas Yitzchak," forbids to carry in 
hotels in most cases (unless the owner lives in the hotel or that all the 
guests eat together).  Chazak V'amatz.

Eliezer Y. Glick-Cooper, Bayit Vegan Jerusalem

Ohrnet Responds:  At the time of his ruling, Rabbi Zalman Nechemia Goldberg 
informed us that others disagree with his ruling.

**********

Re:  Yiddle Riddle (Ask #187):

	In Yiddle Riddle for Parshas Tzav, you asked "Which four people's 
names in the Chumash also appear as names in the Megilla?"  I found one 
that you missed:  Tarshish (Bereishis 10:4, Esther 1:14).

Yitzchak Morel <ajmorel@aol.com>

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