OHR SOMAYACH'S ASK THE RABBI 
Issue #251, October 23, 1999 
Parshat Lech Lecha
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In this issue:
GOODYEAR
HERE COMES BABY!
YIDDLE RIDDLE
PUBLIC DOMAIN 
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This issue is sponsored in merit of the complete recovery of 
Yael Beracha bat Sarah Rayze
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GOODYEAR

Debbi Gjunik <gjunik@aol.com>wrote:

Dear Rabbi,
I heard recently that some great Rebbe in Jerusalem said that this 
year, 5760, will be a difficult, (G-d forbid) hard year for the world 
in general.  Are there -- in the gemara or various different sources -
- opinions to back up this claim?  Have you heard of it?  Doesn't 5760 
stand for "Tehai Shnat Segulot -- It should be a year of treasures?" 

Dear Debbi Gjunik,

	One of today's great Torah Sages, Rabbi Yosef Shalom Eliyashev, 
in regard to questions such as yours, said the following:  "Those who 
know don't say; those who say don't know."  He meant that those who 
purport to definitively predict the future are only speculating; 
anyone truly wise enough to know the future is also wise enough to 
know how much to reveal, when, and to whom.

	However, some interesting things have been said about the year 
5760:

	In Jewish law, the number 5760 represents purity.  Thus, one of 
the kabbalistic writings (Chesed L'Avraham, written around 200 years 
ago) saw 5760 as the year in which G-d will "remove the spirit of 
impurity from the land."  (Zecharia13:2)

	The connection between 5760 and purity is as follows:  In Jewish 
law, ritual purity is achieved by immersing in a pool of naturally 
gathered waters called a mikveh.  Now, for a mikveh to be valid it 
must have a certain minimum amount of water.  The Oral Torah (the 
unbroken chain of information going back to Mount Sinai) teaches that 
this minimal amount is 5760 "egg-volumes."  Thus, 5760 symbolizes a 
mikveh and hence the removal of impurity.

	(An "egg-volume" is the amount that spills from a totally full 
cup when you put an egg in it.  Ancient mikvehs discovered in Israel, 
such as those at Qumran and Massada, are built precisely to this 
standard.  One se'ah =144 eggs; hence, a minimum 40 se'ah mikveh = 40 
x 144 egg-volumes, or 5760.)

	Another source, the Yalkut Reuveni, wrote that 240 years before 
the year 6000, the world will be engulfed by a flood.  But didn't G-d 
promise Noah never again to flood the entire world with water?  What 
kind of "flood," then, is being referred to?

	Earthquakes in Mexico City, Taiwan, Turkey,Peru and California; deadly 
storms in Central America, Japan and Florida; volcano alerts in Ecuador 
and the Philippines.  This flurry of tragedies prompted CNN to ask 
"Is There a Link Between Recent Natural Disasters?"  Add to this a 
nuclear meltdown in Japan, the train tragedy in London and a military 
coup in nuclear-capable Pakistan; all of these which occurred in the 
few weeks since the year's beginning on Rosh Hashana.  Could these 
events be the rumblings of a deluge of disaster?

	Or will the "millennium bug" bring an ocean of information 
crashing down around us?

	The possibilities are endless.  Let's pray for another 
possibility, that a flood of love and kindness will engulf the globe, 
and that "the earth will be full of G-dly knowledge, just as the 
waters cover the ocean."(Isaiah 11:9)

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

HERE COMES BABY!

Name@Withheld from Chicago, Illinois wrote:

Dear Rabbi,
To my continual joy and miraculous wonder, I am pregnant with our 
first child.  Is there anything I should or can be doing during this 
exciting time to help prepare, spiritually, for the incredible job of 
parenthood & motherhood?  Thank you for your consideration and for the 
weekly dose of humor and wisdom!

Dear Name@Withheld,

	Judaism teaches that the influences surrounding the baby in the 
womb have a profound effect. 

	So avoid negative influences, like those on television and in 
movies.  You don't want your developing baby's first sensations to be 
ones of violence and immorality.  Instead, listen to inspiring music, 
study about Judaism, talk to positive people, etc.
 The Talmud relates that one expectant mother used to go to the houses 
of Torah Study and ask the scholars to pray that her unborn baby 
should one day become a Torah scholar.  And when her baby was born, 
she brought him in his crib to the Torah academies so that his ears 
should absorb sounds of Torah study.  He grew up to be one of the 
great Sages of the Talmud, Rabbi Yehoshua.

	And remember, your baby is made from the food you eat.  So, make 
sure your baby is kosher!  Kosher food has a positive spiritual effect 
on the developing fetus, and non-kosher food has the opposite effect.

	Someone once asked a Rabbi, "When do you Jews start educating 
your children?"  The Rabbi answered, "Twenty years before they're 
born!"  More than anything else, the example set by the parents is the 
greatest influence on a child's life.  Begin now a renewal of your own 
commitment to the study and practice of Judaism.

	May Hashem bless you with an easy pregnancy and birth, and with 
children who are a constant source of joy to you and your family!

Sources:

* Avot 2:5 and Commentaries
* Rabbeinu Bechaya, Vayikra 11:43
* Shulchan Aruch Yoreh Deah 81:7

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YIDDLE RIDDLE

Where in davening (liturgy) do you say 24 words in a row that end with 
the letter "chaf?"

Answer next week...

* Riddle Submitted by Shlomo Zev Friedman <geno@netvision.net.il>

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

Re: Shaving With an Electric Shaver During Chol Hamo'ed 
(http://www.ohrnet.org/ask/ask250.htm#Q3):

	I would like to point out that Rav Moshe Feinstein, zatzal, 
(Orach Chaim 1, page 288) wrote:  "It is therefore clear, in my humble 
opinion, that in our time and in our country that people regularly 
shave their beards each day, or even every second day, or even every 
third day, there is no prohibition (to continue to do so on Chol 
Hamo'ed).  However, in any event, I am not accustomed to permit it 
except if there is great need or great discomfort.  And if someone 
wishes to rely on this only for reasons of looking good, he should not 
be chastised, as the basic law is that it is permitted."  Rav Y. B. 
Soloveitchik, zatzal, went even further (Nefesh Harav, Rav Tzvi 
Shechter, page 189); he reasoned that it is permitted to shave in this 
instance, similar to other instances of "o'neis;" [not under his 
control] since this stubble was not in existence before Yom Tov, it 
could not have been shaved.  Since it is permitted, he reasoned, it is 
a mitzvah and an obligation for people who shave daily to also shave 
during Chol Hamo'ed so as not to be unbecoming during Chol Hamo'ed and 
before the last day/days of Yom Tov.

            Yehoshua Seidenfeld, Efrat, Israel <gseiden@pangaea.co.il>
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