העורך Editor

Sick Sales and Selling the Sick

Hyehudi.org has decried several times the total subversion of Judaism via numerous worthless fictions, including the upcoming travesty of “selling” Chametz on Erev Pesach. Although there seem to be several ancient valid legal fictions (Ha’arama), these do make sense in context, and /or cannot be unduly extended further.
One less ancient example is the custom of “selling” a mortally ill child to someone else. The idea, beyond arousing his guardians’ repentance, is that if his true parents’ actions made them culpable to lose a child, God forbid, the child in question would cease to be a legitimate target, and recover from his illness.
I have come across the claim this historical fact is a support for the validity of Jewish legal fictions in general. After all, the transaction (Kinyan) ought to be invalidated on grounds of obvious insincerity. Neither the buyer nor the seller has any intention of passing ownership: דברים שבלבו ובלב כל אדם. If legal fictions are at once wicked and Jewishly ineffective, how come Torah scholars and rabbis never protested?!
Firstly, without over-explaining, legal fictions ‘work’ fine in metaphysics, properly understood (don’t ask). In any case, a Jewish child does not legally belong to his father. More significantly, there is no religious aspect here. Even if the sale is but dark humor, neither Judaism nor Hashem are being mocked thereby. (This custom is not, in fact, uniquely Jewish.)
Note: Biblical “Pidyon Haben” consists of a symbolic monetary fine for release from sacrificial duty, not passing ownership.

Who Enjoys Editing Wikipedia?

This paragraph from Wikipedia’s article “Idolatry in Judaism” follows the traditional deceptions meant for goyish consumption; everything is written in the past tense:

Although Jews were forbidden to mock anything deemed holy by Judaism, it was a merit to deride idols (Talmud Meg. 25b). It was forbidden to look upon images (Tosefta to Talmud Shabbat (Talmud) 17.1), and even thinking of idolatrous worship was prohibited (Talmud Berakhot 12b); if one saw a place where an idol had once stood, he was commanded to utter a special prayer (Talmud Ber. 61a). Sacrifice to an idol or anything which in any way might be associated with idolatry was forbidden. It was even insufficient to reduce an idol to powder and scatter it to the winds, since it would fall to earth and become a fertilizer; but the image must be sunk in the Dead Sea, whence it could never emerge (Talmud Avodah Zarah 3.3); nor might the wood of the “asherah” be used for purposes of healing (Talmud Pesachim 25a). Among the three cardinal sins for which the penalty was death, idolatry stood first (Talmud Pes. 25a and parallels).

Alter it to say something like this instead:

Although Jews are forbidden to mock anything deemed holy by Judaism, it is meritorious to deride idols (Talmud Meg. 25b). Jews are forbidden to look upon images (Tosefta to Talmud Shabbat (Talmud) 17.1), and even thinking of idolatrous worship is prohibited (Talmud Berakhot 12b); when one sees a place where an idol had once stood, he is commanded to utter a special prayer (Talmud Ber. 61a). Sacrifice to an idol or anything which in any way might be associated with idolatry is forbidden. It is even insufficient to reduce an idol to powder and scatter it to the winds, since it would fall to earth and become a fertilizer; rather the image must be sunk in the Dead Sea, whence it may never emerge (Talmud Avodah Zarah 3.3); nor may the wood of the “asherah” be used for purposes of healing (Talmud Pesachim 25a). Among the three cardinal sins for which the penalty is death (when cardinal punishment is in effect), idolatry stands first (Talmud Pes. 25a and parallels).

חשמל וגרמא בשבת – מה נשתנה?

שיעור הלכה מאת הרב אליהו בייפוס שליט”א, ר”מ בישיבת זכרון מכאל, ורב בארגון “משמרת השבת”.

השיעור אורך כשעה (אחריו מהנדס).

מקור: אתר שופר, כאן.

פרטים נוספים אודות ארגון “משמרת השבת”, ראה ויקיפדיה, ובאתרנו כאן (באנגלית). וראה עוד דעת הרב ברנד כאן, כאן, ובקצרה כאן.