Ask The Rabbi 
15 May 1999 
Issue #237
Parshat Bamidbar - Shavuos - Naso 
=========================================================================== 
This publication is available in HTML format at 
http://www.ohr.org.il/ask/ask236.htm 
=========================================================================== 
Researched at Ohr Somayach, Jerusalem 
This Issue Contains: 
1. The Mitzvah System		5. Clean Torah
2. Right Shouldering		6. Two Trop Tune
3.  All Nighter			7. Yiddle Riddle
4.  Chosen Last			6. Public Domain 
===========================================================================

___The Mitzvah System___

Gregory Cissell, from Milwaukee, WI <4t74cissellg@vms.csd.mu.edu> wrote:

Dear Rabbi,

I am taking a class at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA, 
so that I can better understand Judaism. My question for you is this: Why 
is the mitzvah system (by mitzvah system, I mean the 613 commandments that 
Jews are obligated to observe) considered so important? It has not been my 
experience that these commandments carry the same significance in other 
religions as in Judaism. Thank you.

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

Dear Gregory Cissell,

G-d gave the 613 commandments to our nation at Sinai. They are so important 
because they are "the King's decrees."

Let me explain with a parable. Imagine that the president calls you to his 
office and gives you 10 million dollars and a strange gadget. He tells you 
to take the gadget home, put it by the open window, and turn it on every 
day between four and five in the afternoon, and that it's a matter of 
national security. He tells you that the 10 million is yours so long as you 
continue to do your task faithfully every day. You would certainly do it, 
even though you didn't understand why, because you know that the president 
has access to special information and technology that you don't have. You 
would feel sure that somehow this gadget has some function that, even 
though you don't understand it, is crucial for national security.

So too, even though we don't understand the ultimate reason for all the 
commandments, but since G-d Himself told us to do them and told us that 
they are so important, we certainly believe Him. He took us out of slavery 
in Egypt and gave us the Land of Israel in order for us to do the 
commandments; as the Torah says regarding the laws of keeping kosher, that 
we should observe them, "Because I am the Lord your G-d, who raised you up 
out of the land of Egypt to be your G-d." (Leviticus 11:45)

We are not to "pick and choose," but rather to do all the commandments, as 
G-d said: "You shall observe all My statutes and all My laws and do them, 
so that the Land to which I am bringing you to settle upon will not vomit 
you out." (Leviticus 20:22) We see from this verse that our national 
security in the Land of Israel depends on fulfilling these laws. Not only 
that, but they are also our ticket to life in the Next World, as the verse 
says, "You shall keep My statutes and My laws, which a person will do them 
and live eternal life through them." (Leviticus 18:5)


___Right Shouldering___

Harold Crandus from Illinois <hcrandus@aol.com> wrote:

Dear Rabbi,

When the Torah is removed from the Ark and carried through the synagogue, 
over which shoulder should it be carried and why?

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

Dear Harold Crandus,

The Torah scroll is held with the right hand against the chest and right 
shoulder. This shows honor and love of the Torah, as expressed in the verse 
in Song of Songs: "His right hand embraces me." Carrying it in the right 
hand is also reminiscent of the verse "From His Right Hand, He gave a Law 
of fire to them."

Sources:

* Shulchan Aruch 134:2, Mishneh Berura 14


___All Nighter___

Sam from Chicago wrote:

Dear Rabbi,

This is my first time experiencing Shavuot in a yeshiva environment. I'm 
told that everybody stays up all night studying Torah, which sounds fun but 
at the same time I'm a little wary of doing so. In school I once had a 
paper due the next day which I stayed up the entire night writing; in the 
morning my brain felt like fried tofu and I could hardly function. How 
important is it to stay up all night on Shavuot and why; or perhaps it's 
more important to get a good night's sleep?

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

Dear Sam,

Many, especially in the Yeshiva world, have the custom to stay awake and 
study Torah the entire night of Shavuot.

Shavuot celebrates the day when G-d gave us the Torah on Mount Sinai. By 
studying all night, we show our love and enthusiasm for this precious gift.
Another explanation is that the Jews at Mount Sinai slept late on that 
historic Shavuot morning! G-d had to "wake them up" to teach them the Torah 
(sound familiar?). We rectify this by staying up all night, to ensure that 
we won't sleep late on this day.

Staying up all night is not a halacha or a Jewish law, but rather a custom 
for those who feel they are physically up to it. If you won't function 
properly the next day, you should not stay up the whole night.


___Chosen Last___

Frederick Barry from Canada wrote:

Dear Rabbi,

According to the Midrash, G-d went to all of the other nations before the 
Jews and offered them the Torah and they refused. If so, then why are we 
called the chosen nation? It seems like all of the others were chosen 
first, only they refused.

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

Dear Frederick Barry,

G-d already chose Jacob and his offspring long before the giving of the 
Torah. G-d told Jacob: "The Land which I gave to Abraham and to Isaac, to 
you shall I give it, and to your offspring after you." (Genesis 12) The 
Land was to be given to the Chosen People, as G-d said to Abraham, "I have 
given you and your seed after you the Land of your dwelling, the whole Land 
of Canaan as an everlasting possession, and I will be their G-d." Thus, we 
see that Jacob and his seed were chosen already as "G-d's people."
King David referred to this when he wrote: "For G-d chose Jacob, Israel as 
His treasure (Psalms 135:4)

Furthermore, G-d knew the other nations would decline; He only offered it 
to them so that they couldn't later claim that they never had a fair 
chance.



___Clean Torah___

Michael D. Moroney Jr. from Grafton, MA <miach@ibm.net> wrote:

Dear Rabbi,

If a person is ritually impure or dirty and they handle a copy of the 
Torah, does this defile the Torah permanently and if so is there any way to 
rectify this desecration? I am anxious to hear your thoughts on this.

**********

Dear Michael D. Moroney Jr.,

A person who is ritually impure may touch a Torah scroll. A person who has 
dirty hands should not. In either case the Torah scroll does not become 
defiled or impure. This law, according to the Rambam, has its source in the 
Talmudic statement that "words of Torah cannot become impure."


___Two Trop Tune___

Matthew Schutz from Three Bridges, NJ <matt613@worldnet.att.net> wrote:

Dear Rabbi,

I notice in Parshat Yitro two different trop [cantillation or "tune" 
markings associated with each word] were given - one for Shabbat and one 
for Shavuot. Why is this?

**********

Dear Matthew Schutz,

There are two kinds of trop by means of which the Ten Commandments are 
read. They are called ta'am elyon and ta'am tachton (lit. the "uppermost 
meaning" and the "undermost meaning"). The difference between the two is 
"musical" but not only musical.

Ta'am tachton is the regular trop of this passage as part of the 
Scriptures. The special trop - ta'am elyon - breaks up the sentences in a 
different way, joining all Ten Commandments into one long sentence, and is 
used only in the public Torah reading, resembling the revelation at Sinai. 
As you noted, most communities use it only on Shavuot, the Festival 
celebrating G-d giving us the Torah.

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

Yiddle Riddle

Since the Torah was given with Hebrew letters, here's a Shavuot riddle:

Dovid Solomon <dsolomon@actcom.co.il> wrote:

I have a Yiddle Riddle to suggest: What three characteristics do the Hebrew 
letters "mem" and "noon" have in common? One characteristic is shared by 
three other Hebrew letters (easy), one is shared by one other Hebrew letter 
(harder), and one is peculiar to these two (now that's hard!).

Answer:

They have two forms: middle and final. This characteristic is shared by the 
letters "tsadi, peh and kaf."

Their names begin and end with the same letter. This characteristic is 
shared by the letter "vav." (The letter "hey" is normally spelled "hey 
alef.")

They both require use of the nostrils to be pronounced. If you have a 
stuffed nose, every "man" is "bad." (see Radak in Michlol, Lyck edition, 
pg. 70a)

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

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

Georgia on My Mind:

Shalom aleichem! I am a yeshiva student in Tbilisi, Georgia. I have been 
your subscriber since 1997 and like very much your issues. I have been 
inspired with the idea to relay your issues to other people here as well. 
But since not everyone of them masters English so good I think it would be 
useful to translate them into their native languages. So, may I get 
permission from you to do that and put out translated issues of Ohrnet at 
our yeshiva? Thank you again for so good work you do.

* Shalva Davitashvili, Tbilisi <shabby@mmc.net.ge>

**********

Ohrnet responds:

Yes, please translate our material into other languages and distribute it. 
We ask that you please credit us by name, location, e-mail and website. 
That is: Ohr Somayach, 22 Shimon Hatzadik St., POB 18103, Jerusalem 91180, 
info@ohr.org.il, www.ohrnet.org

**********

On Impact:

Keep up the excellent work- you are having an amazing impact on world 
Jewry. In the zechus of your good work may we merit the speedy arrival of 
mashiach.

* Binyomin Freilich <ejs@mweb.co.za>

**********

The French Connection:

Another success for your site. We are going to use Parsha Q&A between 
"Sefer Torah aliot" in order to maintain attention to Torah reading. Many 
thanks for your work and please keep Parsha Q&A as it is today, because I 
am reponsible for relaying it to my community. I translate your questions 
in French (Rashi's language).

* Raphael Benshimshon, Paris, France <rbe@quotient.net>

**********

Your Staff Comforts Me:

I must tell you that I enjoy and appreciate your weekly e-mails, and just 
the fact that you are open anytime to any type of question. When I was in 
school my classmates didn't know what to do with me sometimes, because I 
couldn't just listen - I had to question. And I thrived on learning. Now 
that I've graduated from seminary, I don't have the availability of the 
wonderful staff around anymore and I miss it terribly. I've found for 
myself just what I need in your "Ask the Rabbi" service! Thank you and 
tizku l'mitzvos!

* Name@Withheld

**********

Ohrnet responds:

We're grateful for the opportunity to educate and inspire. But your former 
teachers have addresses and phone numbers, don't they? Call them, and go 
visit them. 
 
===========================================================================   
You can submit your questions to the "Ask The Rabbi" staff with your web    
browser at: http://asktherabbi.org    
Or to use standard E-Mail, address it to: info@ohr.org.il   
To insure correct handling, set the subject to "ASK THE RABBI"    
===========================================================================    
Did you know that EVERY question EVER published in Ask The Rabbi    
isavailable on-line in an index for easy look-up?    
http://www.ohr.org.il/web/index/askidx.htm   
===========================================================================   
   
Do you link to us?  Let everyone know about the Ohr Somayach Home Page by   
dropping the following text into the HTML document of YOUR home page:   
   
          <A HREF="http://www.ohr.org.il" TARGET="_top">   
          The Ohr Somayach International Home Page</A>   
===========================================================================    
                                 SUBSCRIBE!   
   
to one of the many weekly "lists" published by Ohr Somayach Institutions:   
   
      weekly - Summary of the weekly Torah portion   
     dafyomi - Rav Mendel Weinbach's insights into the Daf Yomi   
         ask - The Rabbi answers YOUR questions on Judaism   
  parasha-qa - Challenging questions on the weekly Torah portion   
  os-special - All the SPECIAL publications produced by Ohr So   
       month - Seasons of the Moon - The Jewish Year through its months   
     os-alum - "B'Yachad" - the Ohr Somayach Electronic Alumni Newsletter   
    judaismo - Spanish-Language newsletter on the Parsha & Judaism   
  judaismo-p - Portuguese-Language newsletter on the Parsha & Judaism   
       yossi - Yossi & Co. comic strip in PDF Format  
      ohrnet - Torah Weekly, Q&A, Ask the Rabbi & Daf Yomi in PDF Format  
     ohrnews - Keep up-to-date with the Ohr Somayach Web Site  
      Simcha - Simcha's Torah Stories for youth of all ages.  
  lightlines -  A 2 page digest of Ohrnet in PDF Format
   
Ohr Somayach NEVER charges for any of the above lists.     
To subscribe, see the page http://www.ohr.org.il/web/sub.htm   
Or send the message:     
            subscribe {listname} {your full name} to listproc@vjlists.com  
===========================================================================   
"I'm looking for the E-Mail address of a student at Ohr Somayach..."   
 Look no further than:  http://www.ohr.org.il/web/alumni/email.htm   
===========================================================================    
Dedication opportunities are available for Ask The Rabbi.   
Please contact us for details.   
===========================================================================   
Ask The Rabbi is written at   
Ohr Somayach Institutions / Tanenbaum College, Jerusalem, Israel.   
General Editor: Rabbi Moshe Newman   
Production Design: Eli Ballon   
===========================================================================    
Prepared by the Jewish Learning Exchange of    
Ohr Somayach International    
22 Shimon Hatzadik Street, POB 18103    
Jerusalem 91180, Israel    
Tel: 972-2-581-0315 Fax: 972-2-581-2890    
E-Mail:  info@ohr.org.il   Home Page:  http://www.ohr.org.il    
===========================================================================    
(C) 1999 Ohr Somayach International - All rights reserved.


