OHR SOMAYACH'S ASK THE RABBI 
Issue #243, July 3, 1999 
Parshat Pinchas
===================================== 
In this issue: 
1. MEZUZAH NEEDLEPOINT 
2. LOCUST FOCUS		
3. THE HOUSE THAT RUTH BUILT 
4. DOG GONE
5. FAVORITE JEWISH WINE
6. YIDDLE RIDDLE
7. PUBLIC DOMAIN
=====================================

MEZUZAH NEEDLEPOINT

Gloria Weber from Sherman Oaks, CA <gloweb@usa.net> wrote:

Dear Rabbi,
I am making a needlepoint cover case for a mezuzah and there are two 
inserts available.  One is hand-written, the other one is reproduced.  Is 
there a religious difference, or just a price difference?

Dear Gloria Weber,
The "insert" is the actual mezuzah and it must be handwritten.

The laws of mezuzah are precise and complex.  For example, the 
mezuzah must be written by a knowledgeable, qualified Jewish scribe; it 
must be written with special ink upon animal parchment set aside expressly 
for this purpose.  Only certain erasures are allowed.

All these conditions and more make a valid mezuzah considerably more 
expensive than an invalid one.  This plus rampant ignorance has opened the 
mezuzah market to a flood of bogus mezuzahs.  A recent study found upwards 
of 90 percent of all mezuzahs were invalid.  Any "Judaica" dealer who sells 
photocopied "mezuzahs" is either totally ignorant about mezuzahs or is 
simply dishonest.  Either way, any mezuzah he sells, even a handwritten 
one, is certainly not going to be valid.  The only way to get a valid 
mezuzah is to buy it from a qualified, knowledgeable, G-d fearing scribe or 
retailer.

************
LOCUST FOCUS

Impoverished <fowl@gte.net> wrote:

Dear Rabbi,
With the 17-year locusts in the news, a question has popped up, the answer 
to which has always eluded me.  I've always heard and read in the Bible 
that locusts are "clean."  But it's never been explained HOW TO EAT A LIVE 
LOCUST!  Are the legs, head, and/or wings removed first, or is nothing 
wasted?  And as for the "pickled locust," is there a recipe?  Signed:  
Impoverished.

Dear Impoverished,
I hope you're not so impoverished that you have no bread and you need 
to eat locusts!

Although some types of locusts are kosher, we no longer eat them 
because we have lost the tradition for how to distinguish which ones are 
kosher and which ones aren't.  Yemenite Jews do still have this tradition, 
and therefore they can eat them.  They don't eat them live, however, as 
this would transgress "don't be disgusting," just as we don't eat live 
fish.

Sources:
* Shulchan Aruch Yoreh Deah 13:1
* Leviticus 11:43

************
THE HOUSE THAT RUTH BUILT

Anonymous from Singapore <romans5@singnet.com.sg> wrote:

Dear Rabbi,
I'm involved in a musical production called "Fiddler on the Roof" by 
Singapore Lyric Theatre.  I require the information below in order to 
portray accurately Jewish customs and traditions:  1)During a wedding, is 
there a special container that is used to contain the Holy water?  2)During 
the Sabbath Friday night, what do the Jews normally eat?  Will there be 
Holy Communion?  3)When will the head of the household pronounce blessings 
over his children?  For blessings on daughters, does the father bless them 
to be like Rachael and Leah or Ruth and Esther?  Thank you very much for 
your answers!

Dear Anonymous,
There are no "holy water" or "communion" rituals in Judaism.  
Traditional Sabbath foods are braided bread, wine, fish and meat and potato 
kugel (pudding).

Before the Friday night meal, the father blesses his daughters to be 
like Sarah, Rivka, Rachel and Leah.  The "Fiddler" lyrics "May you be like 
Ruth and like Esther" are one of that show's many inaccuracies.

************
DOG GONE

Alan Novak from Raleigh, NC <zayden@intrex.net> wrote:
Dear Rabbi,

I am a volunteer at the North Carolina State Veterinarian school.  One of 
the vets is also a minister, who is with people when they have to put an 
animal to sleep.  She asked me if there is a specific prayer for Jewish 
people when their animal has to be put to sleep.  Please advise if there is 
something in the Torah or elsewhere in the Bible.  Thank you for taking the 
time to answer this question.  After we had to put our Labrador to sleep, 
who we had for over 13 years, we went to shul (synagogue) on Shabbos and 
said kaddish for a special member of our family.

Dear Alan Novak,
Although it can be traumatic putting a pet to sleep, there is no 
special prayer that one recites, and saying "kaddish" for a dog would not 
be appropriate.  But a person can always pray to G-d for any of his needs, 
and in any language.

************
FAVORITE JEWISH WINE

Baruch Greenbaum from Brooklyn, NY <farblungrd@aol.com> wrote:

Dear Rabbi,
Why does wine have such a significant role in Judaism?

Dear Baruch Greenbaum,
To answer your question, I have to tell you a joke:

A leader of a house of worship was giving a fiery sermon:  "If I had 
all the beer in the world," he said, "I'd take it and throw it in the 
river; and if I had all the wine in the world, I'd take it and throw it in 
the river!  And if I had all the whiskey in the world, I'd take it and 
throw it into the river."  He sat down.  The choir leader then stood and 
said with a grin, "All please rise for the singing of Hymn #258:  `We Shall 
Gather at the River.' "

The above story illustrates two ways to look at wine:  The sermonizer 
believes that wine is intrinsically evil and must be totally avoided, while 
the choir leader implies that hedonistic immersion in wine is not so bad.  
The Jewish view is far from both of these views.  We believe that the 
enjoyment of wine, like other physical pleasures, can and should be used in 
the service of G-d.

Wine is mentioned in Psalms as something that "gladdens the heart of 
man," and hence it is used to gladden and inspire us at various times -- 
like kiddush on Shabbat (sanctification of Shabbat), at a circumcision and 
a wedding.

Wine symbolizes a completed and perfected human life.  It starts off 
as an inferior product (grape juice = childhood, immaturity) but must go 
through fermentation (struggle = challenge of evil) and only then does it 
become the superior product, wine.  We drink it on occasions where we have 
passed a certain fermentation process (marriage) or at times, like Shabbat, 
which represent the final product of human life, the World to Come.

Sources:
* Psalms 104
* Sefer Hachinuch 31

************
YIDDLE RIDDLE

Last week we asked:  Who didn't eat or drink for upwards of 60 years?

ANSWER:  Choni Ham'agel.  The Talmud recounts the events whereby Choni 
Ham'agel slept for seventy years.  Hence, he neither ate nor drank during 
that time.

* Tractate Ta'anit 23a

************
PUBLIC DOMAIN

RE:  TOO FAR SIDE (http://www.ohr.org.il/ask/ask239#Q2):

To the question:  "Are comic strips and cartoons depicting G-d as a 
human (such as The Far Side) against Rambam's Third Principle of Faith?" 
You answered "Yes."  But when a humorous strip like the "Far Side" draws 
G-d, I don't think he means to say that this is really what G-d looks like.  
Nor do I think he expects people to think that this is his message.  For 
example, once he drew a cartoon captioned "Inside the Sun" that showed a 
man inside a shed with a giant switch on the wall labeled "Rise" & "Set."  
I doubt if he meant to claim that this is really what the inside of the sun 
looks like.
                          Haim [Howard] Roman <roman@avoda.jct.ac.il>

OHRNET RESPONDS:
Our intention was that the concept of G-d's having a physical form 
contradicts our belief.  Depicting "G-d" in a cartoon is at best highly 
irreverent.

************
RE:  JURASSIC JUDAISM (http://www.ohr.org.il/ask/ask238#Q1):

While the existence of dinosaurs does not in any way affect our 
belief in G-d, I once heard an interesting concept that is overlooked by 
many people:  The Torah (Bereishet 1:21) states that G-d created the 
"taninim hagedolim" -- giant serpents or reptiles [which then G-d, 
according to the Midrashim, caused to go extinct. - Ed.]  This may be a 
reference to dinosaurs.  Thank you for your wonderful service!
                                      A. Avruch <aandpsgang@juno.com>

Great and awesome is your reply about "Jurassic Judaism."  It 
requires courage and open-mindedness, but alas it is necessary to tell the 
world that the secrets of "ma'aseh Bereishet" are multiple, and that the 
account of Creation, although meaningful literally (whatever "literally" 
means) is not a child-like narrative without depth, G-d forbid.  Hatzlacha!
               Arie Folger, Yeshiva University <afolger@ymail.yu.edu>

************
Re:  Heal and Soul:

I think "Ask the Rabbi" is a mitzvah (can I say that?) in itself.  I 
hope all the scholars are aware of the peace and comfort your honest 
answers give to people.  Not to sound cheesy -- but what I study is how to 
heal the physical, while what you study is more meaningful -- how to heal 
the soul and allow it to grow to its full potential.
                                            Med_Student@Anonymous.edu


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