Behadrei is reporting on a wild story of an inheritance that didn't happen..

Halacha evolves as the realities and new technologies change. Halacha is not changing but it evolves based on new realities. What used to be muttar might now be assur, or vice versa, due to changes in how the situation works.

We never get to hear the end of these stories!

In court proceedings in Ireland over a tax dispute with Subway, the Supreme Court showed its true colors.

I got a kick out of this

Someone from the town of Itamar, Yedidya Meshulami, filed a lawsuit with the Israeli Supreme Court to force the Chief Rabbinate to change 5780 into a leap year, adding a second Adar, thus pushing off Nissan and Pesach by a month.

Meshulami says that the CoronaVirus crisis with all the restrictions on movement placed by the Ministry of Health is making it very difficult for so many people to prepare properly for Pesach. The public sector and government institutions will also have a very difficult time preparing properly for Pesach.

Meshulami says declaring a leap year was always up to the people of Israel in the land, and it was done for numerous reasons and keeping public order.

Meshulami is suing to force the Rabbinate to declare a leap year at any point up until the last possible moment - Wednesday, Erev Rosh Chodesh Nissan, at 5pm (17:00). Doing this would postpone Pesach by a month. Yom Hazikaron and Yom Haatzmaut and Yom Hashoah would also all be postponed similarly. All this will help us all, and the State, prepare properly for these upcoming holidays.
sources: Kikar, Kipa, Jewish Press

I am not sure how this works once we have all "bentched" the new month already this past Shabbos. Is that just symbolic and it can still be changed?

I also wonder if he asked the Rabbanut and what their response was prior to going to the Supreme Court.

Somehow I don't see this happening...

You've heard of the "Shabbos Goy"... now we've got the "Shaver Goy"...

A group of rabbis form a beis din in Bnei Braq, the beis din of Rav Silman, decided it was time to give kashrut certification to electric shavers.

To that end, they began looking into a variety of electric shavers to learn how they work and how close to the skin they cut.

For their testing they brought in a goy to test the shavers on his facial hair and see how they work.

According to what they say, most electric shavers are halachically problematic, as they get very close to the skin and pull the hair follicles up from beneath the surface of the skin and then cut them. The only existing certification on an electric shaver is given by the beis din of Rav Mordechai Gross, besides for several certified by the Tzomet Institute headed by National Zionist rabbis.

the rabbis testing the shavers on the shaver goy are investigating the various machines and will decide soon regarding any kosher shavers and their certification.
source: Kikar

Hey, you cannot test it on a Jew, just in case the shaver is no good! And that's how we get the "Shaver Goy"...

Looking for ideas... what else can we move the kashrut certification business into? What else can we use a goy for?

Back in April a group of women who study halacha petitioned the Supreme Court to force the Rabbanut to allow them to take the Rabbanut tests for semicha that are offered to men, even if just to be able to confirm their level of knowledge of the material, separate from the certification for public positions..

Legal Counsel for the Rabbanut has now written his opinion that the position of the Rabbanut is following generations of tradition that does not certify women to the Rabbinate, and the recognition of knowledge on its own is not within its purview, nor do they have the authority to do so. Legal Counsel has recommended that alternate tracks be established for the purpose of testing female candidates for the level of knowledge they have attained, similar to other institutes of higher education.
source: Ynet

So it turns out the Rabbanut is recommending and thereby supporting that tracks for testing female students of halacha be established. It seems this would not certify them for the rabbinate, and therefore not for positions of leadership, but as the initial petition stated, most of the women who want to be tested are not looking for official State positions as rabbonim (or rabbaniyot) anyway and just want their knowledge confirmed for the ability to be an accepted authority for teaching and answering questions for those who ask, so this should be adequate for now. Eventually they will want more, and I think that is obvious, and then maybe the Rabbanut will be the correct address as the next step will be certification. In the meantime, the Rabbanut found a way to push them off, even if it requires supporting some form of testing.

sous vide is very popular so I thought this would be interesting and relevant to some people..



my questions:
1. it could be kashered, but does it need to be kashered? the sous vide machine never comes into contact, even indirect contact with the meat or its steams or anything. it is immersed in the water and what is being cooked is isolated in a sealed bag. So if you cook meat via sous vide, maybe there is no need to kasher it and you can then cook dairy.

2. he does not mention kosher and non-kosher, only dairy and meat, and Pesach. Is there a difference?

3. if you are doing hagala on a sous vide machine, how do you deal with the top of the machine that has the electronics? Do you only need to kasher the bottom half, only submerging the machine halfway, or 2/3, into the boiling water?

There is a report about an event at which Rav Rafi Peretz, Minister of Education, officiated called the International Physics Olympiad.

3 boys and a girl won prizes at the event. Peretz is coming under criticism for not shaking the girls hand, though he shook the hands of the boys. Peretz has responded to the criticism by saying he was not familiar with the protocol of the event and because she was first, he just did not realize he was supposed to shake her hand. Presumably by the next winner he had been told or figured it out.

In defense of Minister Peretz, besides for the fact that I don't see this as a bad thing, considering he is a religious politician, he also comes from a rabbinical background, not a political one. He is not a seasoned politician, and he likely falls back on his rabbinics considering he does not yet have developed political senses.

Nobody would expect any of the Haredi politicians to shake hands with a girl, and they are careful not to in the Knesset and at State visits from foreign dignitaries and at their meetings with female professionals, and nobody says boo when they don't. Just because Rav Peretz is dati does not mean he has to compromise on those same ideals, if that is what he believes is right. Even if I think it is ok to shake hands with a woman in a professional setting, I accept that others do not.

Besides for all that, this is a contrived crisis. If you watch the video in the original report of this incident, you will see that the girl did not even extend her hand toward Peretz for a shake. He did not rebuff her attempt to shake hands. She did not stick out her hand, and he did not stick out his. This entire crisis is made up and turned from something completely insignificant into an attack.

You can see the video on Mako.

מדינת ישראל לא תהיה מדינת הלכה

— Benjamin Netanyahu (@netanyahu) June 3, 2019

Translation:
The State of Israel will not be a halachic state!

This is in response to MK Betzalel Smotrich saying he wants the Justice Ministry so that Israel's legal system will be based on the Torah...

There has been a long-standing debate as to what the true size in modern measurements of the halachic measurements "kzayit", the size of an olive, and "kbeitza", the size of an egg.

The debate is commonly referred to by the sizes determined by Rav Chaim Naeh and the Chazon Ish. The Chazon Ish size is very large and the explanation given is that the ancient olives, and eggs, were much larger than what we are familiar with today. Without going into the various explanations of the opinions and sizes, if considering the debate in regards to how much matza one must eat on the upcoming holiday of Pesach, those who follow Rav Chaim Naeh's opinion will eat a minimum of 26cc while those who follow the Chazon Ish will eat a minimum of 50cc.

Recent advancements in technological capabilities have now allowed archaeologists to do a 3D image reconstruction of eggshells they discovered from Temple times. The imaging technology is normally used for reconstructing pottery shards, but someone had the idea to try to use it for the eggs to see if it can be determined how large eggs were in Talmudic and Temple times.

After a successful reconstruction, it turns out the size of the egg was very similar to our eggs we have today. It fell well within the range of our eggs of varying sizes, and was not unusually large as suggested by the Chazon Ish.
source: TOI

I do not know how many, if any, poskim will change their opinion on the halachic measurements based on this finding. the archaeologist himself says he will not be changign how much matza he eats anyways since as a Yemenite their tradition has always been using the sizes of our modern eggs being similar to the ancient eggs, so the discovery does not change anything for him. It would only potentially change things for Ashkenazim who follow the Chazon Ish.

We have found numerous items, sometimes dating further and further back. They are always interesting, even fascinating, and often shed light on what life was like in our land so long ago.. Rarely do these findings potentially affect our own behavior in a significant way. This is one of those findings that potentially could.

Rav Aviner wrote an interesting piece against what he calls new customs that have taking hold in the community at weddings, yet they do not have sources to them and are against halacha. He begins with an example of decorating the chuppa and says it isn't beautifying the mitzva, but denigrating the chuppa itself, as if the chuppa isn't good enough on its own to make the couple happy. And if you say it is to make the guests happy, that is also a new invention, as the guests are coming to make the new couple happy, but now we have to make the guests happy!

(as an aside, by the above logic, why would we ever beautify any mitzvah - wouldn't it be denigrating to the essence of the mtizva as if saying it alone isn't enough? a sukka? a tallis with an atara? a Shabbos table beautifully set? silver kiddush cubs or shabbos candlesticks? and on and on and on.. but we have a concept of zeh keli v'anveihu - it is important to beautify the mitzvah)

Rav Aviner wrote a list of examples. I am not going to translate the list, but I'll summarize it briefly. They are all interesting and can raise many interesting halachic and hashkafic debates, and I will leave that to others. I will comment on a few.

1. saying Im Eshkocheich Yerushalayim. breaking the cup and putting ash on the head - yes, Im Eshkocheich no. That led to singing it, and at the third stage playing music to it and fourth stage adding more verses to what the chattan says
2. the minhag was always to have both fathers walk groom and both mothers to walk bride. new minhag is to have each set of parents walk their own child.
3. playing music between each bracha. can be a hefsek
4. saying divrei torah before or during the wedding blessings. this also led to women saying divrei torah
5. mentioning dead relatives being present with us even though they physically couldn't be present. there is minhag to go to cemetery before wedding and invite them to the chuppa, but mentioning them under the chuppa is new
6. women reading the kesuba. purpose of reading is just to effect a break, so anybody can do it,
7. bride saying shehechiyanu. Sure she is happy and can make a bracha on a new garment and include the wedding, but thanking God is an internal thing and not one for presentations
8. women holding the chuppa poles. There is no need to create new things and change things. Men can hold them up just fine. Even though women hold up the house, that is not connected to this.
9. bride and groom hugging publicly. kissing is definitely prohibited
10. an important person called up for sheva brachos, and his wife stands beside him to show support. That led to him and her saying the bracha together, which led to women saying the bracha alone
11. bride giving ring to groom
12. bride and groom descending to chuppa in a cage lowered from above
13. chuppa in a boat in a pool
14. a chuppa that was by the pool. The rav and the chattan started arguing about something, and the chattan pushed the rav into the pool. Then it was revealed that it was not really the rav but an actor playing the part just for fun. The rav came right after and performed the ceremony. While not specifying, I guess the new minhag here is having an acting performance.

I am not sure what his problem is with #6 - women reading the kesuba. he goes on to say anybody, even a monkey, can do it because no action is needed, but he still seems opposed to it, though he doesn't say why. It seems, considering that along with some of the others, he is just against women participating in any way, even in ways they are halachically allowed to.

Another noteworthy minhag is #8 - women holding the chuppa poles. It is funny how he adds that the men can do it just fine without their help. As if they are doing it to help the men, rather than having found a way to participate in some small way in the wedding ceremony (and maybe even with a desire to take advantage of the supposed segula for finding a marriage partner). Again, something that is not halachic in any way, and is not even a woman doing anything in public - speaking, singing, saying a bracha, or anything ceremonial like that, but still she can't do it.

A third minhag I would comment on is #7 - the bride saying the bracha of shehechiyanu. I have personally never seen this, but that is beside the point. His comment is that surely she is happy in the mitzva about to be performed but happiness is internal and not for public display. He left it out, but he must have meant that happiness for a woman can only be internal,  as it is very common for the man to make the sheheyanu bracha on a tallis and he does not mention that as a new minhag or as an inappropriate public display of happiness.

#14 seems silly. Just because one idiot did it does not turn it into a minhag that needs to be counted in a list of common issues.

Another would be #13. he has a problem with the pool or the boat, I am not sure. I am pretty sure that prior to it being done today, over the generation plenty of people have gotten married while on boats. Though those boats were most often not in swimming pools. So he is against one person who got married in a boat i a pool. That sounds important enough to decry as a new minhag. Again, just because one idiot does something does not turn it into a minhag.

And just because people find ways to make their chuppa stand out and be unique in some way, whether by having flowers or near a pool or in a boat or in a pool or whatever, does not turn it into a minhag that needs to become a halachic discussion. If it is not against halacha (and some of the issues he raised can surely be discussed as potential halachic problems), it does not necessarily need to be considered a minhag. Many of the things we do in our daily lives, and at lifecycle events or at ceremonial events, are not halachic in nature, but they make us feel good/unique/special in some way or they provide for a meaningful experience based on the person's personal interests. If it is not against halacha, sometime sit is worth being happy that Jews are celebrating in a Jewish way.

Rabbi Nachum Eisenstein, a close student of Rav Elyashiv, made a big splash a couple of weeks ago when he was a guest rabbi on the Headlines podcast by R' Dovid Lichtenstein.

The topic of the podcast was parnassah and education (entitled "Halachos of Parnassah and the Tuition crisis") and when asked his opinion about the need for more basic "secular" education so the young men will possibly be able to be more successful with earning a living, Rav Eisenstein was, to put it mildly, unimpressed with the arguments and went into a screaming fit when discussing the topic. Rav Eisenstein concluded that most of the kollel yungerleit survive and it is only a small minority that are misfits and unsuccessful who need to resort to shnorring, and the secret  of the great success of the vast majority of the kollel yungerleit is a miracle and we cannot talk about it so as not to ruin the miracle and make it end. No education necessary.

R' Lichtenstein once again turned to Rav Eisenstein as one of the guest rabbis to comment in his latest podcast, this time on the topic of tcheiles.

The first two rabbis consulted spoke very calmly and lucidly about the various issues. One spoke in support of wearing tcheiles nowadays and went through a variety of proofs from chazal and science to support the conclusions that the tcheiles discovered "recently" is the real thing (or at least likely enough that it would be worth wearing). The second rabbi spoke in opposition, mostly based on mesorah, to wearing tcheiles today. It was a very interesting halachic presentation, with both sides presented.

And then he turned to Rav Nachum Eisenstein. Rav Eisenstein, once again, blew up and went into a screaming rage about how those who wear tcheiles are against the gedolim and their opinions are not valid and the gedolim knew all the proofs and still did not wear it and they are mevatel a mitzva of listening to the chachomim and it is connected to going to Har Habayis, and chadash assur min hatorah (new things are prohibited), yadda yadda yadda. No reasonable discussion, for or against, just railing against those who do differently.

Rav Natan Slifkin wrote some comments worth reading on the topic despite his not wearing tcheiles either and in agreement with some points of Rav Eisenstein's opinion, they diverge from rav Eisenstein's rhetoric.

In light of what Harry Maryles wrote about Rabbi Eisenstein after the podcast on parnassah, considering what the Eisenstein boys were like when he knew them way back in yeshiva, listening to him speak on tcheiles was far more understandable. As HM concludes there, "I think he actually does know all of this. Rabbi Eisenstein is not stupid. But he is partisan. And if the official line of the Charedi world is that young people do not need an education, by golly he’s going to be the one to trumpet that the loudest. Once a Kanoi, always a Kanoi. None of this surprises me. That’s how he was as a student back in HTC. When evaluating anyone’s public comments, it helps to know where they are coming from. That is certainly no less true here."

Basically, if he is not willing to have a halachic discussion on a practical question and discuss the issues and opinions, no matter what his conclusion is, his opinion might be entertaining but it isn't worth much beyond that. His opinion might be good when he is trying to figure out how to behave, or for his own talmidim to figure out what to do, but that rhetoric doe snot have a place in halachic discussion. Even if you conclude that tcheiles should not be worn, or whatever the issue might be, the halacha could be, and should be, analyzed thoroughly and not just washed away with saying that so and so did or did not so that's what we have to do.

why is this question only relevant for a baal teshuva?

very cool that this new app, niddah stain checker for Android, has come into existence... I was recently joking with someone about creating and using an app for women to check the purity/impurity of their own niddah questions..

I cannot see the rabbis liking this. Besides for taking this realm away from them, potentially, there are too many points that are just too arbitrarily dealt with. For example, one of the main issues of rabbis checking stains, is determining the color or shade of the stain. Rabbis go by the tradition they learned with as to determining what color a particular stain might be, and this app leaves it to an untrained eye for determination. Granted, asking what color something is is not quite rocket science, but much emphasis is placed on studying the colors and practicing and assisting rabbis in order to determine color properly, and this circumvents that entirely.

In light of the increased enlistment of haredi soldiers, with the increase expected to continue in light of the new draft law, and the increased involvement of the haredi soldiers in combat situations, such as in Netzach Yehuda, the IDF is committed to solving the dilemmas faced by the religious soldier.

To that end, the IDF recently published a pamphlet, put together by army rabbis, that deals with those dilemmas and various situations a soldier might find himself in and not know what to do. The information is compiled based on many years of experience in dealing with similar scenarios.

The pamphlet has been dubbed "The Ten Commandments for the Haredi Soldier", but it is really called "Halachic Instructions for Combat Actions".

The pamphlet mainly deals with issues related to Shabbos observance.

From Ynet (Hebrew, English):

 The very first directive emphasizes that the mentioned rules apply only when there is no urgent need for action. In other cases – like a firefight or immediate danger – the soldier must fulfill his mission as soon as possible.
"Desecrating Shabbat due to operational necessities is not a sin, but a mitzvah," says the pamphlet.

Main principles noted in the pamphlet
Shabbat check-list: Remove unnecessary equipment from flak jacket and vehicle, change batteries in radio equipment, prepare list of guard shifts, call parents to wish them Shabbat shalom, light candles. Refuel vehicles and check water and oil before Shabbat.
Civilian action or operational activity? Determine beforehand whether the weekend missions are of a civilian nature – like securing tourists and reinforcing other units.
Driving on Shabbat: One should not push the gas pedal unnecessarily nor drive more than is required. Driving is only permitted for security incidents and medical emergency.
Using electricity: A fan may be turned on only if the temperature may harm the operational status of the unit.
Using radio: Announce ahead of time that you do not answer non-operational calls on Shabbat. If there is any doubt as to the nature of the call, the soldier must answer.
Outpost and base drills: Only before Shabbat.
Sticklight and thermal bag: Permitted on condition they prevent worse violations of Shabbat. Flak jacket may contain food, snacks, Torah, map, binoculors, compass, and night-vision gear, but not sunglasses, keys, and wallets.
Driving to a guard post on the far-side of the base is not permitted, and the soldier should consult with the rabbi on the correct procedure for larger bases.
Showering on Shabbat: The IDF heats its water using a thermal system relying on gas and solar energy; thus, hot water is not allowed on Sabbath. Cold showers are permitted.

While some might compare this to the pig described in the Torah who hides his snout (to hide the lack of the chewing of the cud) while sticking its split hooves out to make itself look kosher, I see this as an attempt to deal with the new reality. The religious soldiers, haredi as well, will be increasing in coming years. If the IDF wants the transition to go relatively smoothly, these are issues it must deal with, and they are.