Im not back

Just testing some mobile blogging stuff.

For Amshinover...

A while ago Amishnover came over for lunch. Since Jameel was also there, as well as a forth chap, we had a Zimun for bentching. As is my minhag, I asked the fellow who was doing the Zimun to please say the first bracha out loud and have in mind to be motzi me on that bracha. Amshi wondered where that came from and I said it was Minhag HaGra, who held that Zimun was a Din D'orraisa (as is clear from the Gemara Brachos מ"ה) and that one isn't yotzei that unless all those answering listen to the bracha quietly and answer Amen (see Tosefes Ma'aseh Rav כ"ד). Well, that wasn't enough for him, so I'm off looking. Meanwhile, I found, in Ma'aseh Rav HaShalem:
כ"ב ר"ח מואלאז'ין דלברהמ"ז נוטל בעה"ב רשות וברכה ראשונה מברהמ"ז אומר המרך לבד.(הנהגות ישרות ס"ק קס"ג)

I'm not sure that's enough for him, but I'm trying here. I also was told that in Yeshivas Torah Temimah in Brooklyn, that is how they are noheg l'mayseh. In addition, after a quick talk with my Rav on the topic, he told me it is based on Rashi's shitah in Brachos. When I find the appropriate Rashi, I will be happy to share.

Wow...it's been a while.

Ok, so it's been a good long time since I posted, but here I am. We'll do a couple small posts and then hopefully get back into the swing of things.

First of all, Jameel is running the Purim Parody Carnival. Go take a look, sign up and join the fun. I'm parodying a very well known blogger and I hope I haven't taken on too much.

Next, go read this blog. Link to her. Give her all sorts of attention and maybe she'll write some more.

And now for a short vort:

The Beis HaLevi said that when one gives tzdakah to a poor person, the giver is fulfilling the positive commandment of tzdakah through that person, as well as several other Mitzvas Aseh. Therefore, the oni becomes an embodiment of a commandment (חפצא של מצוה). In the same way an etrog, before Succos, is just a fruit, but when picked up and used to fulfil the commandment of לקחתם לכם it to becomes a חפצא של מצוה and gains inherint kedushah which prohibts one from gaining untoward benifit (איסור הנאה) or using it for mundane purposes, likewise the wood of which the Succah is made (ע"ע גמ' סוכה ט. ורש"י על החגיגה) is forbbiden. It is also forbidden to treat an item with which a mitzah is fulfilled in an unseemly manner (חולין פג גבי כסוי הדם). Therefore the Beis HaLevi concludes that the situation is the same by the recipent of the tzdakah, that it is forbidden, מן התורה, to treat the him in a disrespectful manner.

Off to the old country...

We're off to the old country for my brother-in-law's wedding. If any one has a burning need to meet the world famous Litvshe and you live in New York, leave me a comment and I'll get right back to you.

Amshinover, lunch is on you this time since Jameel never paid me back.

Tookie's Dead and that's a good thing.

Ok. So I saw this post and I just couldn’t sit quietly. Tookie Williams was executed and some people in the J-Blogsphere have started discussing the status of capital punishment in Judaism. Everyone knows the gemara about a Sanhedrin that kills someone is called a murderous Beis Din. They therefore translate this into the assumption that Judaism in general is against the death penalty. Such things as two witnesses and warning are bandied about, without a proper understanding of the what the halacha. So, I’m going to lay it out here and hopefully some misconceptions will be cleared up.

There are two separate authorities who have the ability to exact capital punishment in Jewish Law. The first, as mentioned, is the Sanhedrin, of which there are two types. The Sanhedrin HaGadol, with 71 members, which sits in the Mikdash is the first. The second is the Sanhedrin Katana with 23. Every city, including Yerushalayim, must have its own Sanhedrin of 23. Most capital cases are judged by this Beis Din. The cases which only appear before the Sanhedrin HaGadol are cases of False Prophet, A Cohen Gadol, or if an entire Shevet needs to be judged. There are other cases, such as going out to a non-mandatory war (מלחמת רשות) which also need approval by such a forum, but that isn’t within the scope of this discussion. All of this is found in the first perek of Masechta Sanhedrin.

The second authority is the King. I’m not going to distinguish between kings of Israel and kings of Judah, since I don’t believe there is any distinction from a halachic standpoint. In any event, there are several cases where a king is permitted to summarily execute someone. Two halachos from the Rambam come to mind. Both from the third perek of Hilchos Malachim V’Milchamos

ח - כל המורד במלך, יש למלך רשות להורגו. אפילו גזר על אחד משאר העם שילך למקום פלוני ולא הלך, או שלא ייצא מביתו ויצא--חייב מיתה; ואם רצה להורגו--יהרוג, שנאמר "כל איש אשר ימרה את פיך". וכן כל המבזה את המלך, או המחרף אותו--יש למלך רשות להורגו, כשמעי בן גרא. ואין למלך רשות להרוג אלא בסיף בלבד.
י - כל ההורגין נפשות שלא בראיה ברורה, או בלא התראה, אפילו בעד אחד, או שונא שהרג בשגגה--יש למלך רשות להרוג אותם, ולתקן העולם כפי מה שהשעה צריכה. והורג רבים ביום אחד, ותולה ומניחן תלויים ימים רבים, להטיל אימה, ולשבור יד רשעי העולם. .

That is to say , in two specific case does the king have the right to execute people, those being Mored B’Malchus (rebellion) and Horeg Nefes (murder). In both cases, with respect to the king, the general rules of witness and warning are waived. As the Rambam brings down in Halacho 10: Without clear witness, without warning and even with one witness. There is place to discuss if a government is the equivalent of a king, but s’vara certainly leans in that direction. In any event, it should be noted the Rambam’s reasoning for permitting the king to do such things. To fix the world as the hour requires. The language is similar to a related halacha dealing with the Sanhedrin’s right to impose capital punishment outside the general rules of halachic jurisprudence. Sanhedrin 24:4

ד - יש לבית דין להלקות מי שאינו מחוייב מלקות, ולהרוג מי שאינו מחוייב מיתה, לא לעבור על דברי תורה, אלא לעשות סייג לתורה. וכיון שרואין בית דין שפרצו העם בדבר--יש להן לגדור ולחזק הדבר, כפי מה שייראה להם: הכול הוראת שעה, לא שיקבע הלכה לדורות
The Sanhedrin has, at it’s prerogative, the right to impose the death penalty as a Horas Sha’ah when it feels the necessity to do so. The Rambam brings down several cases when this was done, including Shimon Ben Shetach killing the 80 women in Ashkelon without due process, warning, witness etc. As an additional note, the Rambam, in the Guide to the Perplexed at the end of Perek 3:40 mentions that if for whatever reason the Sanhedrin doesn’t execute a murderer it is clear that the king will do so.

The question then arises, what is the difference between the cases where the Sanhedrin must judge according to halacha, in which case if it does it would be considered a Sanhedrin that spills blood, with those which the Sanhedrin or the King judges with the purpose to set the world straight.

In any event, the situation in the world today is more of that of the King passing judgment. Every country has the right to protect its population against the depredations of those who don’t value human life, to create an atmosphere where there is a certain amount of deterrence or as the Rambam describes it: To break the hands of the wicked (ולשבור יד רשעי העולם).

Random filler

Yes, I haven't posted as much as I should have. My bad. I'm working on a few more halacha posts, hope to have them out in the next few days. Meanwhile, there's a meme going around about what music is playing on your MP3 player. So, here goes.

20 songs from random shuffle playlist produced by iTunes for my trusty iPod.

Pipeline (Arab Mix)- Depeche Mode from the Rose Remixes
Doin' Time - Sublime from the Black Album
2000 Volts - Big Bad Voodoo Daddy from The Beautiful Life
One Tree Hill - U2 from THe Joshua Tree
Sister of Night (Ultra Remix) - Depeche Mode from the Rose Remixes
People are Peope - Depeche Mode from DM Remixes
Misskaculation - Ruder Then You from Ska: The Third Wave Vol.2
Seek and Destroy - The Suspects from Ska Chartbusters
Mable - Goldfinger from Live at the World Cafe
371 Go Ska - Ska King Crab from Mission to Mars
Fly on the Windscreen (extended) - Depeche Mode from DM Remixes
Revolution Rock - The Clash - London Calling
Sonata No. 14 in C# minor "Moonlight Sonata" - Depeche Mode
East Side Beat - The Toasters - This Gun for Hire
She Sure Can Cook - Skaoovie and the Epitones - Ska the Third Wave Vol.5
Lie To Me - Depeche Mode - Some Great Reward
D.L.T.B.G.Y.D. - The Toasters - D.L.T.B.G.Y.D.
The Blue Roots - J.B. Haley Jr. - Skarmaggedon #4
Too Long - The Skoidats - A Cure for what Ales you.

Anyway...I would like to mention I had a wonderful lunch with Jameel and Amshinover yesterday. Amshi, lunch is on you when I'm in Brooklyn in a few weeks.

Jameel and Amshi...you've been tagged.

Memories...

Just a bit of teaser...
Last night I sat to interview a neighbor of mine. His name is Shimon Rachamim and he's quite a character. The reason I've embarked on this project is because Shimon comes from a very prominent Rabbinic family. For instance, his grandfather was a talmid chaver of the Ben Ish Chai and is mentioned repeatedly in R' Yosef Chaim's s'forim. His uncle (his father's oldest brother) R' Yechezkil Ezra Rachamim was considered one of the g'dolei Bavel at the age of 15 and the Ben Ish Chai would go over difficult p'sakim with him before giving a final answer. Another uncle (a younger brother of his father) was the Rishon L'Tzion R' Yitzcham Nissim. His father was also a well known Rav, the acknowledged expert in limud gemara as well as minhagei Bavel. A cousin on his mother's side was the Chief Rabbi of Argentina and his older brother is the Av Beis Din of the Eidah Chareidit of the S'faradim in Yerushalyim. He grew up two doors down from the Beis Yisroel, the 4th Gerrer Rebbe and personally new the majority of the G'dolei Yerushalyim of the last 50 years.
I will occasionally post the raw interview files here, when possible. They are in Hebrew for those who understand Lashon HaKodesh and they are very interesting.

You can listen to the interview from here.

You can also subscribe to the podcast here. Though you'll get audio ads as well, because meanwhile, I'm a cheapskate. Though you can subscribe and humor me.

Surprise, Surprise, Surprise

Why am I not shocked.