OHR SOMAYACH'S ASK THE RABBI
Issue #284 August 5, 2000 / 4 Av 5760
Parshat Devarim
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In this issue:
TV FOR DUMMIES
YIDDLE RIDDLE
PUBLIC DOMAIN

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TV FOR DUMMIES

From: NameWithheld@ufl.edu

  Dear Rabbi,
  If G-d gave us everything to enjoy and use (i.e., cars, wealth,
  entertainment, etc.), what is the purpose of TV?  I know many Jews
  who do not watch TV, and I do not understand why.

Dear NameWitheld@ufl.edu,
You are asking a very good question!  I would say that the technology
itself is given to us to utilize and benefit from; what we do with it
is a totally different issue.  Nuclear Technology, for example.  We
can clearly see the good in it, but when a fundamentalist Islamic
state starts to contemplate why G-d gave them the capability to use
it, it makes us shudder.

The same with pharmaceuticals. We cannot thank G-d enough for the
advancements made in this area over the last few decades, but again,
as time progresses new and improved designer drugs hit the streets and
wreak havoc to the population.  Do you remember when crack hit the
streets?  How about XTC?

Judaism for thousands of years remained strong because we didn't let
the cultures and values of our enveloping nations influence us.  We
wouldn't be here if we had decided that the Babylonian street scene
was where it's at.  Or if we had listened to the Romans who told us
that we are antiquated, and that its time we drop this monotheistic
stuff and get down to boogie with Zeus and all the ensemble.

Television is the flagship for American culture.

A few years ago, there was a large multinational meeting of government
ministers of culture.  It was hosted in Canada and attended by
representatives from most western nations.  Except one.

The United States.  Canada's downstairs neighbor had not been invited.
This made them a little upset, but not as much as when they found out
the reason for this meeting.

How to protect themselves from the onslaught of American culture and
values and how to stop the havoc it is wreaking in the prospective
countries.  Movies and television programs were introducing values
(sic) that undermined the very fabric that held these countries
together.  Teenage birth, drugs, violence, etc.  They had to find a
way to put a stop to it.

Can't we see the damage done by television?  All those public
commissions scream about the damage television is having on today's
youth; and after many years of counseling, I have seen it myself.

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YIDDLE RIDDLE

LAST WEEK WE ASKED:
Certain health defects make an animal into a "treifa."  A treifa is
not kosher; it may not be eaten.  In what case does an animal's being
a treifa cause its offspring to be kosher (or, more exactly, prevent
its offspring from automatically being non-kosher.)

ANSWER:
If an animal is slaughtered when it has a fully grown calf in its womb
and afterwards the calf is born alive, that calf is called a "ben
pakua."  By Torah law, a ben pakua is not require to be ritually
slaughtered in order to be eaten, because it is considered already
slaughtered.  (By rabbinic decree, even a ben pakua must be
slaughtered if it is to be eaten.)

If this ben pakua then fathers a calf, the new calf can never be
slaughtered and thus never eaten (assuming the mother is a regular
cow, not a b. pakua).  This is so because at birth this new calf is
regarded as "half-slaughtered."  Thus, it cannot be slaughtered to be
eaten, because the act of ritual slaughter is regarded as if it has
taken too long (i.e., from when it was born -- it is already half-
slaughtered -- until it is actually slaughtered).  Ritual slaughter
must be instantaneous.

If however the original cow (the one that was slaughtered at the start
of this episode) was itself a treifa, then its child will not be a ben
pakua, thus allowing the new calf to be slaughtered and eaten.

Thus, the "grandmother" cow's being a treifa causes the "grandson" to
be kosher (or, more exactly, prevents it from automatically being
"half-slaughtered" and non-kosher.)

Sources:
* Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh Deah 13:4, Shach 12

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THE PUBLIC DOMAIN
Comments, quibbles, and reactions
concerning previous "Ask-the-Rabbi" features

Re:  JEWS IN JULY (http://www.ohr.org.il/ask/ask281.htm#Q1):

A short note regarding your excellent reply about Jews observing July
4th:  July 4, 1776, the day the Continental Congress signed the
Declaration of Independence, was the 17th of Tamuz, the day Jews
worldwide fast, and which begins the period of mourning for the
destruction of the Temple.  Could this have been a coincidence?



Let me express my admiration of the adroit way you handle the tricky
questions thrown at you.
                                        Raphael N. Levi
                                        <rnlevi@Earthlink.net>

Such a good answer regarding the 4th of July.  I really appreciate
your thoughtful answers.  Sometimes your emails are my only taste of
Judaism during the week.
                                        Ilya
                                        <tillyonline@ivillage.com>

Re:  OHR SOMAYACH IN THE NEWS

I write articles every month for the religious school paper at my
shul.  I was grasping at how to write about Tisha B'av, when I found
your site (http://www.ohr.org.il/special/9av/index.htm).  THANK YOU!
THANK YOU!  THANK YOU!  And TODAH!!!  I am able to compose a much more
thoughtful piece due to your writings.  I hope you won't mind if I
utilize your site in the future for more writings.  Best regards!
                                        Debi Burdman-Deutsch
                                        <deutschgirls@earthlink.net>

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