Month: December 2016 – כ״ה בכסלו תשע״ז

Someone has to say this…

Anyone who reads current Torah literature, especially Parsha sheets, has come across the fantastical stories of Rabbi Yitzchak Zilberstein. He has written highly popular books of this material, including multi-volume “Aleinu Leshabe’ach”, “Barchi Nafshi, “Tuvecha Yabi’u”, and more. To believe his anecdotes we must assume:

1. reality is far stranger than fiction – and not because of Rabbi Zilberstein’s wondrous imagination and story-telling abilities,
2. all the amazing stories come solely to his doorstep,
3. in incredible numbers, and
4. he first hears an interesting Halachic dilemma, only then, with God’s help, locating some overly-ingenious solution and/or argument in the Torah sources.

And he assures us these are all actual cases which occurred, not custom-made fiction tales, like responsa Terumas Hadeshen.

I don’t buy it.

And not that something obvious needs proof, but I hear Rabbi Dov Landa of Slobodka has said he doesn’t believe Rabbi Zilberstein’s stories either.

So, here are some of the latest popular articles here on Hyehudi.org:

Seize All Mitzvos, Including the Rare Ones!

ספר ‘מענה לאגרות’ נגד שו”ת אגרות משה

Agudas Yisrael on Child Sex Abuse – The Record

קדושת ציון גליון #16

Mohammedan Influence Upon Popular Jewish Books

A Very Kind Letter

What Are Tariffs?

Against Da’as Torah – Jewish Clericalism

קהילת זילברמן – פרופיל

Guides to Halacha

Mendacious Messianic Modalities

Please keep returning. There’s more where these came from!

Contra Brisk, not every other Halacha relates to the Cheftza/Gavra distinction, and certainly not Aggados. Chazal use these terms only in reference to Nedarim and Nedavos. Even when the phrase fit and could be used, they prefer to speak like unpretentious human beings, see Megillah 15a, end:

ואמר רבי אלעזר אמר רבי חנינא צדיק אבד לדורו אבד משל לאדם שאבדה לו מרגלית כל מקום שהיא מרגלית שמה לא אבדה אלא לבעלה

As for yesterday’s riddle: not everyone knows what “keivan” means. Keivan is not only “because”, but often “when”. Again, the text is:

מגדף שחזר בו בתוך כדי דיבור אינו כלום אלא כיון שגידף בעדים נסקל

So to translate: A blasphemer who retracts immediately, his retraction is ineffective. Rather, once he has blasphemed before witnesses, he is stoned.

Maimonides is not saying witnesses are the reason he is punished. Once they hear the words, witnesses need not wait any longer to testify.