Avodah EmaiList Archive http://lists.aishdas.org/pipermail/avodah-aishdas.org/ Thu, 09 Jul 2026 00:06:21 -0700 michaelpoppers at gmail.com (Michael Poppers) Thu, 02 Jul 2026 19:10:36 -0700 <CADx280t1r-k=jBs-qPcYGGDJpD2bTxn5+d=bAJ4-1GYCVUjrCw@mail.gmail.com> > Not required- but what would his rav advise the ani to do? < Acting *lifnim mishuras hadin*, I would think, is not subject to *p'saq*/asking a *sh'eila*; and if one needs/feels the need to ask, the *p'saq* is now *halacha p'suqa* for the *shoeil* and no longer *lifnim mishuras hadin*. Sincerest condolences to R'Micha and family. *HaMaqom y'nacheim eschem b'soch sh'ar aveilei Tziyon viYrushalayim*. All the best from *Michael Poppers* * Elizabeth, NJ, USA http://lists.aishdas.org/pipermail/avodah-aishdas.org/2026q3/048422.html jay at m5.chicago.il.us (Jay F. Shachter) Wed, 01 Jul 2026 08:01:22 -0700 <17829180820.FB36.47694@lsd.chicago.il.us> > > ... he explains that "Since pidyon haben is a mitzvah that is > performed only once in a great while and it is an occasion of great > joy, Chazal required the father to recite a shehecheyonu prior to > performing the mitzvah." (Immediately after, he writes about saying > shehecheyanu at a bris milah. I get the impression that in theory, > the same halacha would apply, but in practice there are some > contra-indications involved.) > > .......................................... > > My question is: What makes Pidyon Haben different? Why can one > definitely say shehecheyanu on Pidyon Haben, but all these other > mitzvos are problematic? > > In footnote 75, he cites Gemara Pesachim 121b about saying > shehecheyanu at a pidyon haben. I suppose it is possible that this > is the only mitzva for which the Gemara explicitly says to say > shehecheyanu, and that's why all others are questionable. But that > answer would make sense only if there were a similarly explicit > gemara about shehecheyanu at a bris milah, and I did not notice that > mentioned. > My answer, based on my assumption that everyone in the world resembles me, is that it has to do with the phrase that you quoted but did not subsequently refer to: "it is an occasion of great joy". All my life I have been imagining how I would, one day, fulfil the mitzvoth of brith milah and pidyon habben. I have gone over the details in my mind (for example, since I have daughter but do not have a son, I imagine serving sirloin steak at the s`udath brith milah, thereby fulfilling, on a single occasion, all the mitzvoth in Sefer Bresheeth). I also imagine pausing for a long time when the priest asks me at the pidyon habben ceremony whether I prefer to give him the money or my son, until my imagined wife finally yells at me to answer him, and I say to her "I'm thinking it over" (of course, I would rehearse this in advance with her). I do not have similar thoughts about other mitzvoth. I have not been imagining and re-imagining my whole life the scene in which I fulfil for the first time the mitzvah of slaughtering a chicken, or freeing my nonJewish slave after knocking out his tooth. Jay F. ("Yaakov") Shachter 6424 North Whipple Street Chicago IL 60645-4111 +1 773 7613784 landline +1 410 9964737 GoogleVoice jay at m5.chicago.il.us http://m5.chicago.il.us When Martin Buber was a schoolboy, it must have been no fun at all playing tag with him during recess. http://lists.aishdas.org/pipermail/avodah-aishdas.org/2026q3/048419.html micha at aishdas.org (micha at aishdas.org) Wed, 01 Jul 2026 05:06:09 -0700 <21b69d16-90a3-4f01-bd57-2c34c899fda4@Spark> My son Shuby (Yehoshua Asher), a 27 year old man with Down Syndrome, could not be woken Sunday morning. I can't learn, so reading Avodah emails to moderate the list is on hold until the end of shiv'ah. Please continue writing in; but the queue will baclog until I return to duties Motza'ei Shabbos and Sunday. So kindly be patient. (It also puts a pause in my moving the lists to Discourse.) Shetir'u baTov! Micha http://lists.aishdas.org/pipermail/avodah-aishdas.org/2026q3/048418.html joelirarich at gmail.com (Joel Rich) Tue, 30 Jun 2026 20:28:00 -0700 <CAE7cFpF+Cy3=QcjmHDDjP8h9JE53k7fAcG4OdPaqiA-nv9LtAA@mail.gmail.com> I often wonder how much of any torah commentary was based on tradition and how much was based on the combination of the commentator?s DNA and life experiences. In my mind whenever I pictured Joseph trying to get Jacob to switch his hands in the blessing of the grandchildren, I thought of Joseph thinking that Jacob had gotten a little old and was making a mistake and that Jacob?s response was, my dear, dear son. I really do know what I?m doing. This year when I read it, I wondered whether it?s possible that. Joseph saw it as Jacob favoring the younger over the older and perhaps Joseph was concerned that this would start another round of the troubles that he himself experienced as the favorite son. I take comfort in what I once learned - that how you read something tells more about you than the author or the story ? Thoughts? KT Joel Rich http://lists.aishdas.org/pipermail/avodah-aishdas.org/2026q2/048420.html joelirarich at gmail.com (Joel Rich) Tue, 30 Jun 2026 20:30:19 -0700 <CAE7cFpFq0cYWimK3N4ogFM2Pg17TLtTwH1W_DxMhaK0Usqg46Q@mail.gmail.com> I always understood the use of the different names of HKBH similar to the understanding of HKBH gets angry ? it?s simply our perception. But what raised the question to me was thinking about Christianity and the claim that it?s not monotheistic because of the father-son Holy Ghost thing. I don?t know enough about their theology but it sounded like it could be a similar kind of concept as the sfirot. I really do know I wonder how many people in our generation who don?t have a solid footing and study kabbala are nichshol on the yichud hashem principle because of sfirot? Thoughts? KT Joel Rich http://lists.aishdas.org/pipermail/avodah-aishdas.org/2026q2/048421.html akivagmiller at gmail.com (Akiva Miller) Wed, 24 Jun 2026 16:56:37 -0700 <CABiM0c+K9YAexG6K3mJSAsT5Jm1B8ojZ3H9cK8keNt8N8wWVzA@mail.gmail.com> . Rabbi Yisroel Pinchos Bodner, in his "Halachos of Brochos vol. 2", on page 37-38, he explains that "Since pidyon haben is a mitzvah that is performed only once in a great while and it is an occasion of great joy, Chazal required the father to recite a shehecheyonu prior to performing the mitzvah." (Immediately after, he writes about saying shehecheyanu at a bris milah. I get the impression that in theory, the same halacha would apply, but in practice there are some contra-indications involved.) What about *other* mitzvos? On page 39 he gives examples like a bar mitzvah boy putting on tefillin for the first time, a kallah lighting Shabbos candles the first time, and (in footnote 85) someone who performs Kisui Hadam for the first time. For these mitzvos, it seems that the poskim are divided, and he offers practical ideas how to deal with that machlokes. My question is: What makes Pidyon Haben different? Why can one definitely say shehecheyanu on Pidyon Haben, but all these other mitzvos are problematic? Rabbi Bodner gives extensive footnotes showing which poskim hold this way or that way, but I did not see any *explanation* of this distinction. In footnote 75, he cites Gemara Pesachim 121b about saying shehecheyanu at a pidyon haben. I suppose it is possible that this is the only mitzva for which the Gemara explicitly says to say shehecheyanu, and that's why all others are questionable. But that answer would make sense only if there were a similarly explicit gemara about shehecheyanu at a bris milah, and I did not notice that mentioned. Any ideas? advTHANKSance Akiva Miller http://lists.aishdas.org/pipermail/avodah-aishdas.org/2026q2/048417.html joelirarich at gmail.com (Joel Rich) Tue, 23 Jun 2026 20:11:31 -0700 <CAE7cFpF3b6Qme9W8yYBjKXD9Mpn6w+d-mSxa8EogAc0amdmAGg@mail.gmail.com> I was recently listening to a shiur on schar psiot which was discussing what level of tiebreaker is it? Should you walk to a farther shul even though the closer one has other benefits such as more intense prayer or quieter congregants? ------------------------------ I find it interesting that there was no discussion of what you would do with the time saved by going to a closer one. How much weight should you give to buying a home closer or farther from a shul. The opportunity cost of the saved time, which seems to me to be very important, wasn?t mentioned. Thoughts? KT Joel Rich http://lists.aishdas.org/pipermail/avodah-aishdas.org/2026q2/048415.html joelirarich at gmail.com (Joel Rich) Tue, 23 Jun 2026 20:24:33 -0700 <CAE7cFpHJsj9WZPmedyKSTr8FomaMaCUXtBJsRtiVOtA+CTk0Bg@mail.gmail.com> Shulchan Arukh, Choshen Mishpat 259 ???? ??? ???? ????? ???? ????? ?????? ????? ??? ????? ?? ???? ???? ???? ?????? ??? ???? ????? ????? ????? ???? ?????? ?????? ???? ?? ???? (??? ??? ??? ???? ????? ???? ??? ????? ????? ????? ????): ------------------------------ ?Even though by the letter of the law, in a place where the majority [of those present] are non-Jews, even if a Jew gave an identifying sign [siman] in it, one is not obligated to return [the lost object] ? it is good and upright to act beyond the letter of the law [lifnim mishurat hadin] and return it to the Jew who gave an identifying sign in it. (And if he [the finder] is poor and the owner of the lost object is wealthy, he is not required to act beyond the letter of the law.)? ------------------------------ Not required- but what would his rav advise the ani to do? KT Joel Rich http://lists.aishdas.org/pipermail/avodah-aishdas.org/2026q2/048416.html ykaganoff at gmail.com (Yonatan Kaganoff) Tue, 23 Jun 2026 10:51:51 -0700 <CAFK8up9RqKtbBQGDx0pxZ3w9LRsEtpMkCcj1GxzA7kdCfLh+-A@mail.gmail.com> Assuming the existence of souls & an afterlife (for souls) from a traditional Jewish perspective do souls in the afterlife have agency ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agency_(philosophy))? (For purposes of this question, I'm bracketing out Free Will questions.) Most texts about the afterlife describe a series of stages/places/steps that a soul goes through without much choice on the soul?s part. That indicates a lack of agency. However, there is much Midrashic literature about great men & women (such as the Avos or Moshe Rabbeinu) having some degree of agency after their deaths. But Midrashic literature often anthropomorphically and mythopoetically ascribes agency to many things such as abstract ideas & inanimate objects, not meant to be taken literally. So one could argue that when Midrashim describe the Avos interceding on behalf of their descendants, they are speaking mythopoetically. And there are stories in the Gemara like that of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi in Kesuvos 103a making Kiddush for his family after his death. But this might be limited to great men or it might be an Aggadata not meant to be taken literally. Within Chassidic literature (and Early Modern Kabbalah) there are indications that dead Tzaddikim are agentic insofar as they can choose to help their Chassidim after their death, but this might be limited to Tzaddikim and one would have to accept the theology of Chassidus. Many understandings of praying at the graves of one?s ancestors or Tzaddikim imply that the dead are somehow interceding one?s behalf. In which case the dead are indeed agentic. (Of course this might violate Rambam?s fifth *Ikkar Emunah*, but that?s a separate issue.) What other sources address this question? http://lists.aishdas.org/pipermail/avodah-aishdas.org/2026q2/048414.html micha at aishdas.org (Micha Berger) Wed, 17 Jun 2026 15:34:48 -0700 <ajMhCGThDQQ+RLuP@aishdas.org> On Wed, Jun 17, 2026 at 06:33:53AM +0300, Joel Rich via Avodah wrote: > I recently heard a rabbi quote another rabbi as understanding the following > as supporting spending large sums of money on shul buildings in chutz > laaretz: Megillah 29a: > It is taught in a baraita: Rabbi Elazar HaKappar says: In the future, > the synagogues and the study halls in Babylonia will be transported > and reestablished in Eretz Yisrael. > > I wonder how one would reconcile this approach with this gemara: > Jerusalem Talmud, Peah 8: > Clarification. Rebbi ama bar anina and Rebbi Hoshaiah were strolling > through the synagogue of Lod. Rebbi ama bar anina said to Rebbi > Hoshaiah: How much money did my forefathers invest here! He answered > him: How many souls did your forefathers invest here, there is no > one in here who studies Torah! What does the Y-mi have to do with it? He is talking about investing in a place where the shul won't be used as much, regardless of location. There could be something else going on in the gemara's story: The Hadrianic Persecutions after the Bar Kokhva Revolt drove the community out of Judea north to the Galil. (The "Talmud Yerushalmi" was really written in the Galil.) Among the people who lived during this migration was R Chanina bar Chama, the father of R Chama bar Chanina. Meaning, he donated all that money toward the Jewish community in Lod shortly before most of its residents ended up leaving. So, rather than disparaging the Jews of Lod as not being worth a nice shul, the last line of your quote may be a lament, "There are no people here [any more] for anyone to learn Torah." Tir'u baTov! -Micha -- Micha Berger Mussar is like oil put in water, http://www.aishdas.org/asp eventually it will rise to the top. Author: Widen Your Tent - Rav Yisrael Salanter - https://amzn.to/2JRxnDF http://lists.aishdas.org/pipermail/avodah-aishdas.org/2026q2/048413.html joelirarich at mail.gmail.com (Joel Rich) Tue, 16 Jun 2026 20:26:39 -0700 <CAE7cFpF39S6rgBD71OkkKjU3QjYM6ftKapQP1_OcJ-OXTFf=TA@mail.gmail.com> Talmud Baveli Berakhos 29b: Which is an abbreviated prayer? Rabbi Eliezer says, "Carry out Your will in the heavens above, and give peace of mind to those who fear You below, and perform that which is good in Your eyes. Blessed are You, Lord, Who listens to prayer." Why isn't "vehatov beEinacha asei" part of our daily amida? KT Joel Rich http://lists.aishdas.org/pipermail/avodah-aishdas.org/2026q2/048411.html joelirarich at gmail.com (Joel Rich) Tue, 16 Jun 2026 20:33:53 -0700 <CAE7cFpFr+530rgOSmV1+hHaXZ=Bv8QM_+QXFRooc-Hb6VtcLug@mail.gmail.com> I recently heard a rabbi quote another rabbi as understanding the following as supporting spending large sums of money on shul buildings in chutz laaretz: ????? ???? ???? ????? ?? ?? ???? ? ????, ??? ????? ???? ????: ?????? ??? ?????? ???? ?????? ????? ?????? ???? ?????? It is taught in a baraita: Rabbi Elazar HaKappar says: In the future, the synagogues and the study halls in Babylonia will be transported and reestablished in Eretz Yisrael. I wonder how one would reconcile this approach with this gemara: ????? ??????? ???? ??? ??? ? ???? ? ?? ??? ?? ????? ??? ?????? ???? ?????? ?????? ?????? ????? Jerusalem Talmud, Peah 8: ???????? ?????? ????? ???? ???????? ???????? ??????????? ?????? ?????????? ??????????? ????????????? ???????. ????? ?????? ????? ???? ???????? ???????? ??????????? ??????? ?????? ????????? ???????? ?????. ????? ????? ??????? ????????? ?????????? ?????????? ?????. ??? ????? ???? ?????? ???? ??????????? ?????????????. Clarification. Rebbi ?ama bar ?anina and Rebbi Hoshaiah were strolling through the synagogue of Lod. Rebbi ?ama bar ?anina said to Rebbi Hoshaiah: How much money did my forefathers invest here! He answered him: How many souls did your forefathers invest here, there is no one in here who studies Torah! KT Joel Rich http://lists.aishdas.org/pipermail/avodah-aishdas.org/2026q2/048412.html