Ask The Rabbi 
Issue #242
26 June 1999 
Parshat Balak (in Israel) / Chukat-Balak (outside Israel)
=========================================================================== 
Researched at Ohr Somayach, Jerusalem 
This Issue Contains: 
1. From Mars to Jerusalem			5. I Love Spam (R)
2. Bosnia Conversion				6. Yiddle Riddle
3. Write on Moses					7. Public Domain
4. Grave Issue 
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___From Mars to Jerusalem___

Jim Silver from Chicago, IL <silverjamese@yahoo.com> wrote:

Dear Rabbi,

Assuming Mars is ever colonized and Jews live on Mars, will they need to 
pray UP to face Jerusalem?  This question is based on the fact that the 
orbit of Mars is outside the Earths orbit of the Sun.

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

Dear Jim Silver,

Youve certainly asked your question to the right Rabbi:  When I was in 
school, I took up space!

Even on Mars you wouldnt face upwards to pray because one should pray with 
his head slightly bowed and his eyes downward.  Also, facing up towards 
earth might look like you were praying to a star.  A Jewish no-no.

Of course, there may be other valid halachic views on this issue; 
therefore, when you get to Mars, ask the local Orthodox Rabbi.

Sources:

* Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 95:2
* Mishna Berura 426:13

___Bosnia Conversion___

Shoshana Randolph-Friedly from Ft. Huachuca, AZ <sdrandolph@hotmail.com> 
wrote:

Dear Rabbi,

I recently married a non-Jew who wishes to convert under Orthodox auspices.  
Unfortunately, at the moment we are both serving in the US Army, and are 
deployed in Bosnia.  Is there a Rabbi out there who would be willing to 
correspond with my new husband and to help him learn while he is gone so 
that when he returns to the US hell be that farther along in his learning 
process towards conversion?  Any ideas you can contribute would be 
gratefully appreciated.

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

Dear Shoshana Randolph-Friedly,

Shalom.  Please send me the name and contact information of the Rabbi or 
Rabbinic body supervising the conversion back in the US.  This will help me 
get a good picture of the situation and then I may be able to suggest a 
Rabbi with whom he can correspond.

Ohr Somayachs Ask the Rabbi service <info@ohr.org.il> is available for 
all questions; we try to respond to each person within 48 hours.  And our 
web site has tons of material for seekers on all levels. 
http://www.ohrnet.org

___Write on Moses___

Jeremy Harris from UK <JHarris@clifton-college.avon.sch.uk> wrote:

Dear Rabbi,

The chances of Moses being able to write when he was given the Torah are 
very limited.  Historical evidence suggests that Moses would not have known 
how to write and the only form of writing was in Egyptian hieroglyphs.

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

Dear Jeremy Harris,

I suggest you read some archaeological studies of the era; you will find 
that writing was quite well known and common.  For example, see:

* Leah Bronner, Biblical Personalities and Archaeology, Keter Publishing,
  Jerusalem p. 52
* K. A. Kitchen, Ancient Orient and the Old Testament, 1970, pp. 136ff
* E. Neilson, Oral Tradition, 1954,  p. 24

I also suggest you check out the literature (especially the Biblical 
Archaeology Review) on the discoveries of Nuzi, Mari, Amarna, Ras Shamra 
etc. that clearly show overwhelming evidence of the existence, use and 
non-specialist use of writing in the time of Moses and even preceding him.

For general verification and evidence of the historical truth of the Torah, 
see Permission to Receive by Lawrence Keleman, Living Up to the Truth by 
Dovid Gottlieb (downloadable from our website for free, at www.ohr.org.il).  
Also see our article on the web entitled Historical Verification of the 
Torah.

http://www.ohrnet.org/ask/ask158.htm#Q1

___Grave Issue___

Name@Withheld wrote:

Dear Rabbi,

Regarding the daughter whose parents asked to be cremated [Ask the Rabbi 
#239] -- isnt there a halacha (Jewish law) to not listen when your parents 
ask you to do a sin?  That is, honoring parents does not surmount other 
Torah laws.  So wouldnt she be obliged to not fulfill her parents request 
in this case?

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

Dear Name@Withheld,

You are correct:  A child should not obey a parents request to transgress 
the Torah.  If it be in her power, she should see that the cremation not be 
done, even if this is against her parents will.

This reminds me of a story, that I find frightening, one which illustrates 
the frightening evil to which a human can sink and, at the same time, the 
wisdom of our Sages:  Not far from Luban, Russia, there lived a Jew who was 
a traitor to his people; he spent his life harassing the Jewish community 
by slandering them to the Russian authorities at every opportunity.  At the 
end of his life, as he lay on his death bed, he summoned the Jewish burial 
society.  Bury me face down, he said.  Then he died.

His most odd request was brought to the great Rabbi Moshe Feinstein.  Rabbi 
Feinstein ruled that, despite the requirement to fulfill a dead persons 
final wishes, he must nevertheless be buried face-up in accordance with 
Jewish Law.

A few days after the funeral, the Russian authorities rode into town and 
summoned the Jewish burial society demanding that the recently buried body 
be dug up.  Mystified, the Jews went out to the cemetery and began digging 
under the watchful eye of the Russians.  When the body was unearthed and 
became visible, the Russians said, Enough.  Bury him again.  Now the Jews 
couldnt contain themselves:  Please explain why you wanted to dig him 
up? they asked.

This man, the Russians explained, was our friend.  He was forever loyal 
to us.  He told us that the Jews hate him so much for being our friend that 
they are going to bury him face down!

___I Love Spam (R)___

Philipp <philipp_666@hotmail.com> wrote:

Dear Rabbi,

Do you ever feel the need or the urge to eat pork?

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

Dear Philipp,

No, not really.  But by the same token, Ive never had a real urge for 
whale, camel, elephant, crow, or any unkosher meat.  (Though I have eaten 
my hat on a number or occasions.)

I must admit, Im personally repulsed by the thought of eating pork, 
although this may not be a kosher attitude!  Our Sages teach us a 
fascinating idea:  Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says, Dont say I dont want 
to eat meat with milk...rather say I want to, but what can I do, G-d has 
decreed that I must not.  So, its OK -- even desirable, perhaps -- for a 
Jew to have the urge to eat pork, but nevertheless to refrain due to G-ds 
decree.

The famous Torah giant Rabbi Yaakov Kaminetsky was the head of the Torah 
Vodaath Talumdic Academy in Brooklyn, New York.  Near the academy was a 
non-kosher pizza shop.  Walking past the pizza shop one day with his 
students, Rabbi Kaminetsky stopped, took a deep whiff and said Ah!  It 
smells so delicious!

Sources:
* Torat Kohanim Parshat Kedoshim

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

Yiddle Riddle

Who didnt eat or drink for upwards of 60 years?   Answer next week...


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

Re: Cremation (www.ohrnet.org/ask/ask239.htm#Q5):

I also am a baalas teshuva.  My mother was niftar [passed away] on 8 Elul.  
She was a concentration camp survivor who had frequently stated that she 
wished to be cremated.  She had also maintained a membership in the 
Workmens Circle which happens to include a cemetery plot.  After her 
passing, I had a kosher burial for her.  I reasoned as follows:  My mother 
had been meshuga (crazed) due to her camp experiences and even if firmly 
resolved regarding cremation, she was not making the choice with true 
sanity.  My mother never renounced the cemetery plot associated with her 
membership, allowing me to believe that at least in part of her mind she 
was not truly committed to cremation.  And after her death I felt I was 
committed to doing what was halachic with her body, that her soul in olam 
haba (the next world) would approve, now that it was no longer in the 
suffering state she had had during life.

* Rukhl <Eissenstat@aol.com>

**********

Re:  Espousing Religion (www.ohr.org.il/ask/ask240.htm#Q1):

I feel compelled to write to the woman from DC who plans to start a family 
with her currently non-observant husband.  I am, unfortunately, in a 
similar predicament...only that I became observant after we had children.  
I only wish that I had the foresight to question this potential problem 
before we started a family!  Each relationship is so very different making 
it difficult to advise without knowing the couple personally.  Your 
suggestions make sense, to tread carefully as the wife moves forward in 
observance, but sometimes its easier said than done!  As you mentioned, a 
woman can set the tone of the household thereby enabling her to raise the 
children traditionally Jewish.  But this doesnt take into account the 
potentially lonely existence one feels when your spouse is basically 
traveling down a different road in life.  Many aspects of Judaism involve 
the entire family and when the husband isnt there or is there only 
grudgingly, it can begin to take its toll, even on ones own Yiddishkeit, 
chas vsholom. Even if the husband is tolerant of her religious 
activities, both sides will undoubtedly harbor feelings of why me? 
resentment.  Im not even mentioning the issues which arise when youre 
raising boys and the difficulties of not only not having a husband who will 
serve as a frum, observant male role model, but who can have a negative 
impact Jewishly (chas vsholom).  I caution this woman to REALLY think this 
through -- not only by trying to define her own lifes goals but attempting 
to foresee the possible actions and reactions her husband can have to this 
new lifestyle which he never chose to embrace.

* Name@Withheld

**********

Re: Q&A:

Many young and old teens, including myself, are in the middle of studying 
for finals.  Is it possible to add to your website a chumash and navi (Five 
Books and Prophets) question sheet and answer for all weekly Torah 
Portions?  Also is it possible to use words more understandable for us 
young readers of your site.  Thank you.
* Name@Withheld from Miami Beach, Florida

**********

Dear Name@Withheld,

Thanks for your confidence that we can help you get good grades!  We do 
have PARSHA Q&A on our site with 20 questions and answers on every weekly 
Torah portion.  We dont have navi or haftara questions yet.  Good idea!  
(although you will probably graduate before we actually get around to it!)  
Regarding your suggestion that we use more understandable words, I agree.  
As I always say:  Eschew obfuscuity!  Salutations!

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