Ask The Rabbi 
20 February 1999
Issue #227
Parshat Terumah
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This publication is available in HTML format at 
http://www.ohr.org.il/ask/ask227.htm 
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Researched at Ohr Somayach, Jerusalem 
This Issue Contains: 
1 Worries              	5. Say Cheese
2 Friendly Family	6. Yiddle Riddle
3 Why in the World is There a World?   	7. Public Domain
4 Careful Dresser 		
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___2000 Worries___

Email@Withheld wrote:

Dear Rabbi,

I am a new internet user. I have been exploring everything I (usually 
accidentally) click on.  Anyway, I have been reading a lot of y2k [year 
2000] doomsday info and it has caused me much anxiety!  I realize much of 
it is a hysterical messianic reaction.  My question (finally!) what is the 
Jewish response to y2k ?

What is the Jewish response to "the end of the world?"  I am a reform 
Jew by choice, living in a rural Appalachian area.  My only Jewish contact 
right now is the Hillel at the local university and I've not been very 
involved yet.  Thank you for your time!

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

Dear Email@Withheld,

	The Jewish people have survived for 3,500 years and we have 
experienced much worse than the Y2K bug.  The destruction of our Temple and 
worldwide exile of an entire people was quite a cataclysm, the Crusades, 
the Spanish Inquisition, the Black Death, the Holocaust, etc.  And yet, 
here we are.  I am a Jew living in Jerusalem (a miracle in and of itself), 
son of a holocaust survivor (another miracle) actively teaching Judaism to 
thousands of Jews around the world (another miracle).  So our attitude 
would be that of Alfred E. Neuman in Mad Magazine which is "What, me 
worry?"

	The Torah guarantees that there will always be Jews around observing, 
studying and teaching Judaism -- the only thing that you have to worry 
about is will you be one of them?


___Friendly Family___

Email@Withheld wrote:

Dear Rabbi,

My husband and I have been increasing our level of Jewish observance.  We 
have a Jewish home, try very hard to keep kosher, and lately I have begun 
studying the Torah and going to a beginners' service on Shabbat.  My 
husband sometimes accompanies me.  He is dyslexic, and with some difficulty 
has learned the brachot for bread and wine, and makes them on Shabbat.  He 
buys the wine in our house, and it is generally non-kosher wine.  Our 
friend told us you shouldn't make a bracha over non-kosher wine.  When I 
repeated this to my husband (as he blessed non-kosher wine this past 
Shabbat) he became angry at me, and said don't you want to have a nice 
Shabbat?  We are becoming more observant at different rates, and while my 
husband is happy and proud that I am studying the Torah, he is not as 
interested in studying as I am.  I feel that our shalom bayit is at stake.  
Do you have any ideas about how to avoid the pitfalls on the road to 
becoming observant?  I am sure that others have experienced this before us.  
Thank you.

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

Dear Email@Withheld,

	What you really need is a mentor to speak with.  Find a rabbi 
sensitive to these issues with whom you can freely talk.  If you would like 
help in finding someone, tell me where you live and I can suggest someone.

	However, I can offer some words of advice:

* Never criticize or preach regarding religious observance.
* Discuss any step that you plan on taking with your husband first.
* Try to involve him in study with you or at a class.
* Make anything to do with Torah as unthreatening, pleasant and non-
imposing as possible.
* Be extra-careful in other areas of marriage to create and foster 
harmony.

	In addition, I recommend the book After The Return by Mordechai 
Becher and Moshe Newman, Feldheim Publishers.

___Why in the World is There a World?___

Daniel Rabchinskey from Mexico City, Mexico <derej@hotmail.com> wrote:

Dear Rabbi,

Hello, first let me extend my gratitude for sharing your wisdom in this 
way.  The life we live is not only made for the 80 or so years that we are 
here; as I have been taught, it is like a passage for the world to come.  
But why did G-d give us this life instead of giving us our direct existence 
in the world to come, where we will experience pleasure multiplied by the 
millions?  The reason is so that we appreciate what we have fought to get 
to.  The thing is, why don't we appreciate things if they did not cost us 
anything?  I'd say that it is because G-d made us that way; He can do it 
all.  So the question is:  Why didn't G-d make us in a way that we would 
appreciate everything even if we did not work for it, so that we could be 
"born" from the beginning in the world to come? Shalom.

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

Dear Daniel Rabchinskey,

	Your question is asked by Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto in The Way of 
G-d, and is also addressed by Rabbi Yosef Karo in Maggid Meisharim.  The 
gist of what they say is as follows:  The purpose of Creation is chesed, 
kindness.  G-d wants to bestow the greatest possible good upon created 
beings.  The ultimate and greatest good is G-d Himself.  Therefore, the 
ultimate good available to created beings is closeness to G-d.  Closeness 
to God requires compatibility and similarity to G-d.  Therefore beings must 
have free will and not be created already similar, as this would be 
dissimilar to G-d (i.e., G-d acts because He chooses to do so, not because 
He is coerced).  So that the creatures (humans) must be in a world in which 
there is choice so that the human can be as "G-dlike" as possible.  The 
good has to be internal not external, just as God is intrinsically good.  
The only way for us to internalize and be intrinsically good is to do it 
through challenge and free will, and therefore, this world was created.


___Careful Dresser___

Ira Widman from Widman, NJ <widman@idt.net> wrote:

Dear Rabbi,

Why is it prohibited to put on and take off two garments at the same time?  
It seems that it comes from a kabbalistic idea that I don't quite 
understand.

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

Dear Ira Widman,

	The Ben Ish Chai explains that this is because a certain spiritual 
existence is situated around the human body and between the layers of 
garments he wears.  It is a sort of shielding against any spiritual mishap.  
One has to remove pieces of clothing one at a time for this entity to 
depart, and to put them on also one at a time for it to take its place 
again.  If one removes two pieces of clothing at once he is "trapping" this 
entity which after being submitted to such a humiliation will not return 
again.  Subsequently the human will be unguarded against spiritual mishap, 
i.e., forgetfulness.


___Say Cheese!___

Julia Gomberg from Brooklyn, NY <jgomberg@collegeboard.org> wrote:

Dear Rabbi,

Please explain the halachot that are related to certain hard cheeses that 
require one to wait 6 hours before eating meat.  If possible, please give 
the specific categories and names of such cheeses, and the reasons behind 
this halacha.  Many thanks.

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

Dear Julia Gomberg,

	Dairy products such as milk, cream cheese, cottage cheese, yoghurt, 
ice-cream, and butter require no waiting period before partaking of meat.  
However the mouth should be cleaned first.

	According to Ashkenazic custom, one must wait about six hours after 
cheddar, Dutch or Swiss cheese, or other strong flavored cheeses before 
eating meat.

	It is universally accepted that after meat there be a waiting period 
before eating dairy.  Two reasons are given for this:  Either because the 
meat exudes a taste for about 6 hours, or because meat stuck between the 
teeth is still considered meat until about 6 hours afterwards.

	According to the first reason, the Ashkenazic (European Jewish) 
decisors (Rema, Mordechai, Maharam) maintain that one should also wait 
after eating cheeses that have a strong taste.  Some authorities limit this 
to a cheese that has matured for at least 6 months, or that has worms in 
it, even if it is less than 6 months mature.  In both cases the cheese is 
considered "strong tasting" and will give taste for 6 hours.  Other 
authorities maintain (and this is the common custom) that one should wait 
after any strong tasting cheese even if not matured 6 months.  Dutch, Swiss 
and cheddar cheeses are examples of this.

	The Sephardi Jews (Middle Eastern and North African Jews) do not wait 
after cheese, as this stringency isn't mentioned in the Talmud.

Sources:

* Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh Deah, 89:2
* Rema 89:2 & Aruch HaShulchan
* Turei Zahav ad loc. 4
* Shach and Taz, Yoreh Deah, 89:1

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Yiddle Riddle

	I enjoy Ohrnet very much, and always share it with a few friends at 
shul; we work on the Yiddle Riddle together, and (proudly) got the correct 
answer to the one a few weeks ago regarding the five fast days.  Anyway, 
here's my entry:

	"What verse in the Torah contains the same shoresh (root) four times 
in a row?"

	Thanks, and keep up the good work l'hagdil Torah!

* Catriel Blum, Toronto <catriel@stellapharm.com>

Answer next week...

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


Re: Only 16 (ask #222 <www.ohrnet.org/ask/ask222.htm#Q3>):


	In response to Yakov, the 16 year old NY City high school student who 
became observant after a summer in Israel:  His letter struck a chord in 
me, since I went through virtually the same scenario...33 years ago!  At 
that time there was very little around in the baal tshuvah movement, and it 
was a very difficult predicament, especially as a teenager, to have to give 
up one's friends who want to play ball or go to movies on Shabbat.  This 
problem is exacerbated by the fact that as yet one has no new observant 
friends to take the place of old friends.  This is a true test.  I am happy 
to say that I now have 5 children, ranging in age from 11 to 21, all b'nei 
Torah, but I still remember how it felt to be in Yakov's position....

* Name@Withheld

Ohrnet Responds:

	The above is one of hundreds of responses we received regarding 
Yakov, each with information and offers of help.  Ohrnet thanks each and 
every person who responded.  The suggested resources are far too many to 
list, so we will offer just one.  The overwhelming consensus of the 
respondents was that Yakov should contact NCSY, the National Conference of 
Synagogue Youth, under the auspicies of the Orthodox Union, at 212-613-8233 
or email: <ncsy@ou.org>.  For other organizations and resources worldwide, 
see Jeff Seidel's Jewish Student Information Center's Jewish Traveler's 
Resource Guide.

	Several people suggested that when he finishes high school, Yaakov 
should check out Ohr Somayach's post high school program, DERECH, which is 
tailor-made for people of his background.  Now why didn't we think of that?

**********

Re: Link to Us:


	I am a talmid at Torah Academy.  Thank you for helping me with my 
halachic questions.  I could see how logging into the computer and seeing a 
question from someone many times could often pose an imposition.  I have a 
request, if I may:  I have a web page at ncsyphilly.homepage.nu, the 
official Philadelphia NCSY web page.  I was thinking of setting up an "Ask 
the Rabbi" section.  Would you mind if I linked your email with it?  

* Feivel Elfman <InstantELF@aol.com>

Ohrnet Responds:

Dear Feivel Elfman,

	Thanks for your appreciation.  We receive over 120 questions every 
day with only a few Rabbis answering!  However we would be happy to try to 
accommodate you.  We ask that you credit the section as "Ohr Somayach's Ask 
the Rabbi."  Others wishing to link to us, please contact us at 
<info@ohr.org.il> and list subject as "Ask the Rabbi".


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