יהושע אלט Yehoshua Alt

[1] Incidentally, we say in kedusha on Shabbos (Mussaf), “ayeih mekom kevodo…, where is the place of His glory…?” The answer is Shabbos, as ayeih is an acronym for es yom ha’Shabbos (Shemos 20:8).

[2] See Rambam, Hilchos Shabbos 30:2. Concerning playing chess on Shabbos, R’ Moshe Feinstein (Igros Moshe, Yoreh Deah, 3:15:2) writes that really it is not forbidden if one gets pleasure from it. Still, it is surely better not to play because of v’dabeir davar (Yeshaya 58:13), your speech on Shabbos should not be like your speech on weekdays (See Shabbos 113). Also, sometimes the one who loses is upset and then it is surely forbidden (See also the Minchas Yitzchak 3:33:1 where he discourages chess).

[3] Devarim 5:12.

[4] Breishis 37:11. Siduro Shel Shabbos, Volume 2, 4:1:15. Tangentially, R’ Chananel (died in 1055) writes that R’ Chanina would dance when bringing in Shabbos (Baba Kamma 32a).

[5] Shemos 31:16. We know that Shabbos is likened to olam haba, the world to come (see Brachos 57b). The Chidushai Harim makes a comparison: Just as the next world is after one exits this world, likewise Shabbos comes after one leaves the weekday completely.

[6] See Ramban Shemos 20:8.

[7] Pesachim 105b.

[8] The Baal Haturim (to Shemos 16:23) tells us an allusion to the idea of adding from the weekday to Shabbos both before and after Shabbos. It says Shabbason Shabbos kodesh (Shemos 16:23) where the word Shabbos precedes kodesh while in another place it is in the reverse as it says yihyeh lachem kodesh Shabbos Shabbason l’Hashem (Shemos 35:2). There the word kodesh precedes the word Shabbos. These indicate that we add to Shabbos when it begins and when it ends.

[9] Vayikra 24:8. The simple meaning is that each and every Shabbos he should arrange the lechem hapanim.

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[1] Vayikra 6:3.

To purchase any of the author’s books (hardcopy or e-book) and get it delivered to your door, please send an email to yalt3285@gmail.com or visit https://amzn.to/3eyh5xP (where you can also see the reviews).

To join the thousands of recipients and receive these insights free on a weekly email, obtain previous articles, feedback, comments, suggestions (on how to spread the insights of this publication further, make it more appealing or anything else), to sponsor this publication which has been in six continents and more than forty countries, or if you know anyone who is interested in receiving these insights weekly, please contact the author, Rabbi Yehoshua Alt, at yalt3285@gmail.com. Thank you.

[1] This essay is dealing with one who is raised in a country where English is the first language such as the United States.

[2] Shemos 15:2. The Gemara (Shabbos 133b) comments on this pasuk that one must beautify himself before Hashem through the embellished performance of mitzvos. For example, make a beautiful succa, lulav, shofar, tzitzis…

[3] R’ Akiva Eiger requested that his Torah be printed on beautiful paper with black ink and attractive letters, since one is impressed, his mind at ease and concentration is aroused from learning in a sefer with a nice appearance. The reverse, when the print is unclear, has the opposite effect on the reader (שו”ת רבי עקיבא איגר, Hakdama, s.v. והנני).

[4] R’ Mordechai Gifter was of the opinion that even a person who would become a gadol should learn English and it wouldn’t take away from his becoming great in Torah.

[5] Here is a clever piece put together by an English teacher.
You think English is easy?
Homographs are words of like spelling but with more than one meaning. A homograph that is also pronounced differently is a heteronym. For instance:
1) The bandage was wound around the wound.
2) The farm was used to produce produce.
3) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.
4) We must polish the Polish furniture..
5) He could lead if he would get the lead out.
6) The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert..
7) Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present.
8) A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.
9) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.
10) I did not object to the object.
11) The insurance was invalid for the invalid.
12) There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.
13) They were too close to the door to close it.
14) The buck does funny things when the does are present.
15) A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.
16) To help with planting, the pig farmer taught his sow to sow.
17) The wind was too strong to wind up the kite string.
18) Upon seeing the tear in the canvas of the painting I shed a tear..
19) I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.
20) How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?

Let’s face it – English is a crazy language.
There is no egg in eggplant, nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple.
English muffins weren’t invented in England or French fries in France.
Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren’t sweet, are meat.

We take English for granted. But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.

And why is it that writers write but fingers don’t fing, grocers don’t groce and hammers don’t ham?

If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn’t the plural of booth, beeth?
One goose, 2 geese So one moose, 2 meese?
One index, 2 indices?

Doesn’t it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend?
If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?

If teachers taught, why didn’t preachers praught?
If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?
Sometimes I think all the English speakers should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane.
In what other language do people recite at a play and play at a recital?
Ship by truck and send cargo by ship? Have noses that run and feet that smell?
How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites?
Why doesn’t ‘Buick’ rhyme with ‘quick’?
You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out and in which, an alarm goes off by going on.
English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race, which, of course, is not a race at all. That is why, when the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible.

[6] R’ Shlomo Eiger (1785-1852) wrote to his son, “Complete yourself in writing and speaking (the language of the country) because there is a great purpose to it. It is pleasing to people and to Hashem, as there is an obligation to learn a trade (and writing and speaking the language of the country is necessary for a job). In these times where it is not possible to fulfill this, there is still an obligation to learn that which is needed for a livelihood” (Chut Hamshulash p. 78).

[7] He notes that this idea first struck him when he was on a flight, where he read the London Economist. He writes that “he reveled in its felicitous style, its elegant phrasing, its precision, its supple prose and keen sense of language.” He then read an Orthodox Jewish periodical and the sudden change in atmosphere gave him the literary bends. “The alphabet and the words were English, but the sentence structure, the rhythm, the syntax, the tone, were of another language altogether.”

[8] He laments misusages such as “being that” instead of “since”; “comes to tell us” instead of “informs us”; “brings down” instead of “cites.”

[9] The gemara (Kidusin 29a) says that a father is obligated to teach his son a trade. A rabbi involved in Kiruv around the world once said that in his opinion nowadays, for those who are able to, one should teach their children English or hire someone to do so. (He said this in context to those who raise children in countries where English is not the mother tongue. Still it is very beneficial for them to know it as a second language.) This is because there are many more opportunities presented to such a person. These include being able to learn more Torah since there is some Torah—be it books or shiurim—that is only available in English and being able to do Kiruv since many secular Jews only speak English. Additionally, more job opportunities are available to those who know English as well as higher salaries. This is because English is the universal language. In fact, in 2015, out of the total 195 countries in the world, 67 have English as the primary language of ‘official status.’ Plus there are also 27 countries where English is spoken as a secondary ‘official’ language. (It is also a major business language, as well as the official language of a number of the world’s most important institutions, including the United Nations, NATO and the European Union.) Interestingly, a Kiruv rabbi once said that genuine secular Israelis come to Torah events when it is in English. He explained because English is cool, cultural and international. The same poster for the event written in English will draw more Israelis than if it is in Hebrew, although Hebrew is their mother tongue.

Rabbi Yehoshua Alt