Life in Israel: I did not donate, and found salvation!

Life in Israel: I did not donate, and found salvation!

Mazeh Mei Chatas Discussion

1:36 AM yoel: btw - is it just my am haratzus that until I just learned daf 14 in Yuma today (of course I could have saved time by learning Rashi) - I assumed that the mazeh becomes Tamei? don't many meforshim seem to imply that - or have I just been "taitching" wrong my whole life...

1:37 AM me: yes, although it's not pashut pshat!

1:38 AM yoel: yes - it's just my am haratzus or yes they do imply the mazek becomes tamei? :)

  mazeh I mean..

 me: the pesukim certainly do

1:39 AM yoel: the pesukim also seem to say that we poke a guy's eye out when he pokes someone else's eye out...no solace there...although someone (the same Talmid Chacham as before, just showed me that R' Yeruchum Perlow brings down a peikta I believe that does imply that there is a tanna who holds that way...

6 minutes

1:46 AM me: HaKsav V'HaKabbala:

  לפי"ז כשאמרו מאי מזה נושא ר"ל מסיט, שמטלטל ומניע את מי חטאת, ולשון מזה דקרא הוא משרש זז, כלשון אינו זז משם, שמא יזוז עפר, אין מזיזין אותו ממקומו, והוא מלשון וזיז שדי ירענה, שהוא תאר לחיות השדה שהם מתנועעים הנה והנה, כמו שנקרא רמשים ע"ש רמיסתם. ומזה שם מזוזת הפתח דכמו שנקרא משקוף ע"ש שהדלת שוקפת עליו, ככה נקרא מזוזה ע"ש שהדלת מתנועעת ותסוב על ציר מזוזת הבית. ומענין זה אפרש גם מאמר (ישעי' נ"ב) כן יזה גוים רבים, יזה ענין תנועת ההשתוממות וטלטול הפנימי שבנפש מרוב הפלא והתמהון (ערשיטטערט, אויפגערעגט), כלומר בראותם ההשתנות הגדולה שבאומה ממדרגתה השפלה לרום ההצלחה, יתנודדו ויתנועעו בפנימית נפשותיהם מרוב הפלא והתמהון. לכן אמר אחריו עליו יקפצו מלכים פיהם, שמגודל התמהון פיהם יסתם ויסגר ויהיו כאלמים בל יוכלו דבר מאומה. וזה הפך ממה שקדם להם, כאמור שם כאשר שממו עליך רבים וגו' כלומר כערך התמהון שהיה להם מקודם על רוב שפלותך כערך זה יתמהו על גודל הצלחתך (ואם נפרש יזה בדרך אחר אין למאמר שייכות עם הקודם והמתאחר. וכבר ישמשו הכתובים ענין התנועה על ההשתוממות, יתנודדו כל ראה בה). ובלשון ערבי ישמש שרש כזה על טלטול ותנועה. וככה המטלטל ומנענע את מי חטאת יקרא מזה, כלומר שמזיזו ומנענעו (ובא ע"ד משגה עור בדרך שמשרש שגג עיי' בפי' רנ"ו ויקרא י"א כ"ח), ובאמת הי' ראוי מזיז מי הנדה, לכן אמרו רבותינו שנשתנה משקל הפעל בזה לכתוב מזה במקום מזיז, להורות גם על ענין הזאה, שהמזיז והמניע את מי חטאת אינו טמא רק כשיש בהם שיעור הזאה.

1:47 AM Ha'Amek Davar:

  (כא) ומזה מי הנדה. שינה הכתוב במזה מכל הפרשה דכתיב השורף. האוסף. הנוגע. וכאן לכ כתיב והמזה אלא ומזה ללמדנו דלא מיירי במזה ממש אלא בנושא שיעור הזיה וכפירוש רש"י. שמעתי:

  I like the KvK better

  more creative

5 minutes

1:53 AM yoel: so I guess what the Rov is saying is that I never even really had the pasuk to fall back on :)

 me: Well, Rashi seems to be on your side.

1:54 AM yoel: Huh - pum farkert - Rashi on pasuk 21(?) quotes the gemara in Yuma that it is referring to the noseh not the mazeh...

1:55 AM me: Right, but not as a pashut pshat.

 yoel: How can one tell that?

1:56 AM me: The Gra is somewhat convoluted, but he restores pshat:וכתב הגר"א לכאורה הוא תמוה, שהתורה אמרה בפירוש שהמזה טמא, ורבותינו אמרו שהמזה טהור. אמנם הדין הוא כן, מי שטיהר עצמו לחטאת אין מי חטאת מטמאין אותו לא במגע ולא במשא, רק מי שטיהר עצמו לתרומה שעדיין נקרא טמא לחטאת לפי שלא טבל לחטאת, לזה המי חטאת מטמאין אותו לכל דבר. ואמרם המזה מי חטאת טהור, הוא בסתם מזה שהוא מטהר עצמו לחטאת. אמנם מזה דקרא הוא בשלא טיהר עצמו לחטאת, אף שהוא טהור לתרומה, אם זה יזה מי חטאת הם מטמאין אותו, וטומאתו הוא מטעם שהוא נושא מי חטאת ואינו טמא רק כשיש בו שיעור הזאה

1:57 AM yoel: Huh? what is the Gra talking about? Ramabam is fairly clear that he paskens the mazeh is tahor

1:58 AM me: Rashi's language "Rabboseinu Amru," is the hint.

 yoel: interesting

 me: The Rambam, according to the Gra, is talking about the normal scenario

1:59 AM yoel: I'm not sure what the Gra means by שטיהר עצמו לחטאת אין מי חטאת מטמאין אותו

2:01 AM me: It's a bit convoluted, but only someone who is not completely tahor can become tamei

2:02 AM yoel: like one who need he'erev shemesh? idf so - then the normative case would have been that the mazeh does become tamei because the chachamim were metamei the mazeh and then metaher him to go against the tzedukim, no?

2:04 AM me: true

2:05 AM yoel: so at the end of the day - if you hold like the gra and combine that with the metzius - I can justify my am haratzus of the Rashi on the pasuk and the gemara in Yuma!

 me: seems so

 yoel: Yippee!

A Chat on Tzimtzum

One of my old talmidim from Skokie asked me about something he heard that the Chassidic approach to tzimtzum is heresy according to the Rambam. I responded that this was silly. Granted, he said, but what was the hava amina...

...what is the Rambam's shita on guf that one might construe as at odds with tzimtzum?

1:16 AM me: That Hashem is not subject to any dimensionality, and tzimtzum implies dimensionality.

1:20 AMyoel: so the answer is that atzmus Hashem ain hachi nami has no dimensionality? how does the Rambam explain the existence of the world? does Hashem exist everywhere?

1:22 AM me: The Rambam never makes the distinction between atzmus and relationship. He states that Hashem is so beyond human conceptions that it is absurd to try and reconcile His (the only true) existence with our (contingent) existence.

1:23 AM yoel: so the Rambam avoids the question and chassidus/kabbalah attempt to provide a framework through which to try and comprehend the mechanism which all agree must exist. yes?

1:25 AM me: Yes. Because of the importance in Chassidus/Kabbalah of understanding the relationship.

A Very Difficult IDL Psak: Feedback Welcome!

The She'eilah, from a Talmid:

Dear Rabbi Bechhofer,

I hope you are enjoying the summer. I am going to New Zealand soon, and I remember that you said on one of our class Shabbatons that New Zealand might be a problem because of the halachic "international dateline." Can you please refresh my memory and tell me what I should for Shabbos and Tisha Bav?

Thank You,

My response:

This is a weighty question, and I certainly do not want you to feel bound by my psak - feel free to consult another Rav and follow their psak.

My starting point is the psak of the Chazon Ish on the halachic International Dateline. Accordingly, the day of the week known in NZ as Sunday is actually Saturday. The day they call Saturday is actually Friday. The day they will keep as Tisha b'Av is actually the 8th day of Av, and the actual 9th is their tenth. This is a particular problem this year, since 9 Av is on a Thursday - but if you follow the CI, it's on the NZ Friday.

So, what I would pasken is that you keep two days Shabbos every week, on their Shabbos keep Shabbos d'orysa and d'rabbanan and daven tefillos Shabbos (because of Minhag HaMakom).

On Sunday refrain from all d'orysa's. You may ask anyone to do melachah for you on their Sunday, since they have al me lismoch for their manner of observance. On Sundays you should also refrain from d'Rabbanans as much as possible. If you must do one, try to do it with a shinui.

On their 9 Av, keep the day as normal. On their 10 Av, if you can, eat pachos pachos me'k'shiur (we can get into details if you decide to go this route) and all the halachos of the nine days until Chatzos. After Chatzos, you can shower and shave l'kovod Shabbos.

Again, feel free to contact anyone else you want. I will also see if I can come up with more guidelines.

Have fun!

KT,
YGB

כמה מעלות טובות לקפה עלינו!

SUNDAY, July 5 (HealthDay News) -- The growing evidence that caffeine consumption may help treat or prevent Alzheimer's disease has received an extra boost from two new studies.

Florida researchers report that a daily dose of 500 milligrams of caffeine -- the equivalent found in five 8-ounce cups of coffee -- reversed memory issues in mice bred to develop Alzheimer-like symptoms. After two months on the stimulant, the mice rebounded to score just as well on memory tests as normal mice of the same age that had never exhibited signs of dementia.

The studies, published in the July 5 online edition of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, also found that caffeine cut by half the mice's excessive blood and brain levels of beta amyloid, the protein linked to characteristic plaque found in human Alzheimer's disease.

"The new findings provide evidence that caffeine could be a viable 'treatment' for established Alzheimer's disease, and not simply a protective strategy," lead author Gary Arendash, a University of South Florida neuroscientist, said in a news release. "That's important because caffeine is a safe drug for most people, it easily enters the brain, and it appears to directly affect the disease process."

Past work at the Florida Alzheimer's Disease Research Center in Tampa, where these studies were done, found that caffeine in early adulthood appeared to prevent memory problems from occurring in these specially bred mice, possibly because of the stimulant's ability to calm the brain inflammation that causes beta amyloid levels to rise.

The research center also previously found that caffeine reduces beta amyloid levels in elderly people without dementia just as quickly as it does in the mice bred to have Alzheimer's symptoms.

Studies to test whether caffeine can help people with mild cognitive impairment or early Alzheimer's disease are likely to follow, investigator Huntington Potter, director of the Florida Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, said in the news release.

While consuming 500 milligrams of caffeine a day would not cause ill effects for most people, Arendash noted that people with high blood pressure or who are pregnant need to limit their caffeine intake. It is not known whether a smaller daily dose of caffeine would produce the same beneficial effects on the Alzheimer's mice.

In the most recent experiments, the researchers also found that caffeine did not improve the memory of normal mice as it did for the Alzheimer's mice. "This suggests that caffeine will not increase memory performance above normal levels. Rather, it appears to benefit those destined to develop Alzheimer's disease," Arendash said.