Ask The Rabbi 
26 December 1998 
Issue #219
Parshat Vayigash
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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. Food Fight		5. Where's Page One?
2. Yahoo!		6. True Lie
3. Stolen Charity	7. Yiddle Riddle
4. The Place		8. Public Domain 
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____Food Fight____

Gerry Sutofsky from NY <gerest1@aol.com  wrote:

Dear Rabbi,

I am a teacher at a public school in New York.  Every year we have a 
luncheon sponsored by the school PTA.  As there are a number of observant 
teachers who require kosher food, it is always provided for them.  My 
question is, there are also a number of non-observant Jewish teachers who 
eat non-kosher almost all the time but request kosher food for this 
luncheon.

This has caused conflict between certain observant and non-observant 
teachers who feel that it is causing an undue financial burden upon the 
parents who sponsor this.  As one teacher puts it, you have to 
differentiate between those who require and those who request.  My question 
is:  Is there a halachic source that I can refer to for solving this 
problem?  Are we not obligated to give kosher food to any Jew if he/she 
requests it?  Anything you can cite would be quite helpful.  Thank you!

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

Dear Gerry Sutofsky,

	According to Jewish law, one should give kosher food even to a non-
observant Jew.  Giving non-kosher food is a transgression of the 
commandment "Do not place a stumbling block before a blind person" 
(Leviticus 19).  The fact that these teachers are not consistent does not 
affect the fact that they are obligated to eat kosher food.  Even a Jew who 
has sinned is still a Jew.

Sources:

* Talmud, Tractate Avodah Zarah 6b
* Code of Jewish Law, Yoreh Deah 151:1


____Yahoo!____

Email@Withheld wrote:

Dear Rabbi,

	Explain the "yahu" ending on many names.  In our English Scripture we 
have the name Elijah but I see it spelled Eliyahu in Jewish texts.  Many 
other names have the same ending.  I understand the "Jah" refers to the 
name of G-d.  But please explain the "yahu" spelling.

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

Dear Email@Withheld,

	"Yahu" is the original Hebrew ending of many Hebrew names.  For 
instance, Elijah is Eliyahu (my middle name!), Isaiah is Yishayahu.  Yahu 
is a short term used as the name of G-d, as it is spelled with the first 
three letters of the Holy Name.  For example, Eliyahu means My G-d (Eli) is 
called Yahu; the name Shemaryahu means "my guard" is Yahu. 


____Stolen Charity____

Rivka from Manchester, England <majw@mcmail.com> wrote:

Dear Rabbi,

	If money that had been put aside for charity is stolen, must one 
replace it?

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

Dear Rivka,

	I spoke with Rabbi Moshe Sternbuch, shlita, and he said that although 
a Torah court would not force one to do so, the person has a moral 
obligation to replace the money.


____The Place____

Ilana Rosansky from NYC <Ilana@oursquare.com> wrote:

Dear Rabbi,

G-d is called Hamakom, which litterally means "The Place."  For example:  
"HaMakom y'nachem etchem -- May the Omnipresent comfort you," or "Baruch 
HaMakom, baruch Hu -- Blessed is the Omnipresent, blessed is He."  What is 
the origin/source of this name for G-d?

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

Dear Ilana Rosansky,

	The Pesiktah Rabbati, Parsha 21, explains that "Hamakom" -- The Place 
-- as a name for G-d means "He is the place of the world, the world is not 
His place."  This name stresses the concept that G-d created space, and 
that space is within G-d, and not the reverse.


____Where's Page One?____

Michael Braitman from Pittsburgh, PA <mabst102@pitt.edu> wrote:

Dear Rabbi,

Why does each tractate in the Talmud begin with the page number of two 
(beit) and not one?  Thank you.

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

Dear Michael Braitman,

	The real reason is because the front page of the volume is considered 
page one.  Look at printed books today, Jewish and secular, which usually 
begin with page nine because of all the pages before the beginning of the 
actual book.

	I once heard a "cute" explanation of why they began with page two:  
When a person sits down to study, even though he has not yet begun to 
study, yet he has overcome his evil inclination by merely opening the book 
of Talmud.  This is considered as if he has begun already, and that is the 
"first page."


____True Lie____

Rafael de Lucca from Brazil <santoamaro@inprima.com.br> wrote:

Dear Rabbi,
	
	I was reading the questions and your answers, and became very curious 
about Yaakov and Esav, who were part of one of the questions you were 
asking.  I would like to ask you why Yaakov and his mother lied to his 
father to get blessed?  Thank you so much.

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

Dear Rafael de Lucca,

	Esav sold his birthright to Yaakov, including the right for the 
blessing, so Yaakov was only trying to get something which actually 
belonged to him.  Viewed this way, it was in fact Esav who was trying to 
steal the blessing.

	On a deeper level, Judaism doesn't limit the definition of truth to 
the factual occurrences as they seem to happen.  Judaism defines truth as 
"the will of G-d."  Subsequently, there are certain scenarios where the 
will of G-d is not to relate to the factual occurrence as is, and this is 
not considered a lie.  We see in the Torah (Genesis 18:13) that even G-d 
changed, so to speak, Sarah's words when reporting them to Avraham, in 
order to preserve domestic tranquility.  The Talmud (Bava Metziah 24a) 
states three cases only when one may do so; all of them are specific 
scenarios where one wishes to avoid harm or discomfort from others, or to 
maintain ones own humility.  For Yaakov to gain the blessings was the will 
of G-d (as they belonged to him), so any speech which was "untrue" is 
considered truth.

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

Yiddle Riddle

	"The long, the short, the black, the white, the his, the hers and the 
theirs."  What seven similar days, i.e., days which are observed with 
similar forms of observance, in the Jewish calendar do these describe?

* Riddle submitted by Dons Hool, Kollel Ponevez, as heard from his mother

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

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

Re:  Kabbalists (Ask #216):

	In a recent "Ask the Rabbi," a woman named Sharon wrote about her 
meeting with a reputed kabbalist.  I believe you missed something very 
important in your answer to her.  Kabbala is something which even many of 
our greatest talmidei chachamim (Torah scholars) don't pretend to fully 
understand, while many unlearned people, incompetent in other areas, 
pretend to be fully well versed in.  As Rabbi Ezriel Tauber said, anyone 
who says he's a kabbalist knows a lot indeed about kabbala (lit. 
"reception")_he knows how to take your money.  You should have pointed out 
to Sharon to make sure that her contact is a valid Torah guide.

	I'm not saying that she didn't speak to someone knowledgeable about 
kabbala, only that you should have warned her, as she may have spoken to 
one of the many charlatans masquerading as "kabbalists."

* Yosef Kenner <Hawkjoe@aol.com>

**********

Re:  Talking after Bedtime Shema (Ask #214):


	Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef has a rather lengthy responsum on the topic 
(Yechaveh Da'at, 4:21 pp. 114-124).  If I understand it correctly, Rabbi 
Yosef is of the opinion that one may speak if necessary after having said 
hamapil and shema.

* David Wilk <wilkda@mail.biu.ac.il>

**********

Re: Lighten Up (Ask #215):


	Regarding your answer to Leora regarding her house guest who "is 
definitely going to" turn off the light on Shabbos, I do not understand why 
you didn't tell her to tell the guest that she may not use the lights?  
After all, it is her (Leora's) house.  It shouldn't matter if this "guest" 
were even a parent.  A person has every right to ask that someone else not 
be mechalel Shabbos (desecrate Shabbat) in their own home.  Your suggestion 
of using a Shabbos clock, candle, or whatever is not going to show the 
guest the beauty and true meaning of Shabbos. 

* Menashe Katz <mkatz@sysnet.net>

Ohrnet Responds:

	Our answer provided a tactful alternative to confrontation, while in 
no way compromising the sanctity or spirit of Shabbat.  

**********

Re: Ophir (Ask #215):

	Regarding usage of the name Ophir, it is possible the name currently 
common in Israel refers to the Biblical land known for its gold, and not 
the son of Yoktan.  It is in vogue in Israel to name children after 
geographical locations.  The names Arnon, Efrat, Kineret are a few that 
come to mind, and none of those names sound "too religious."  A lot of 
common Israeli names are Biblical in origin, though some are hesitant to 
admit it. 

* Benjie Gerstman, Jerusalem <gerstbpg@netvision.net.il>

**********

Re:  Teaching Them to Your Children:


	Toda Rabba for all the great information.  I'm a Director of 
Education at Temple Akiba in Culver City, California. I love what your web 
site has to offer.  I pass it on to my teachers, and they pass it on to our 
205 students.  It helps us in the mitzvah of "Ve'shinantam  Le'vanecha -- 
You shall teach them to your children."  Thank you again.

* Miriam <Hamuda133@aol.com> 

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