Ask the Rabbi #99

9 March 1996; Issue #99

Contents:

Wheat Futures

Kabbalah

Yiddle Riddle

Subscription Information

Back issues are indexed both by issue no. and by subject

Ohr Somayach Home Page

This publication is also available in the following formats:

Explanation of these symbols

Wheat Futures

Contents

GANZ wrote:

Dear Rabbi,

As usual I enjoyed another one of your responses, this time to Philip Americus about 'Scalping Tickets.' Your logic is commendable. However, could you reconcile for me your advice of not using tricks to get around a law, with the practice at Pesach of selling one's chametz - or even more astute - locking them up in a cupboard and selling "futures" to someone who will never pick them up.

Confused in California

Dear Confused,

Selling your chametz before Pesach is not a trick, but a legally binding sale. When you sell your chametz it belongs to the buyer who has every right to use it.

In a certain community, all the chametz -- including the kosher pizza shop -- was sold to a police officer. During Pesach, a burglar broke in to the pizza shop. The policeman, who happened to be on duty at the time, entered the pizza shop, arrested the robber, and exclaimed, "You're robbing MY business!"

And it's told of a whiskey producer in Europe who sold his entire business for Pesach. After Pesach, the buyer decided he wanted to own the business permanently, and so he refused to sell it back.

But you're right. Both buyer and seller should take the sale seriously and realize that it's not a 'trick.' I know of a Rabbi who, in order to show his congregants that the sale is no joke, told the buyer to enter a home during Pesach and ask for his chametz!

Sources:

Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 448:3

Kabbalah

Contents

Binyomin Altman wrote:

I recently read the following statement of the Vilna Gaon: "The ultimate redemption of the Jewish People (Geula) will come about only through learning Torah; And primarily through learning Kabbalah [Torah's deep secrets]. Since I don't learn Kabbalah, is my Torah study insignificant with respect to bringing about the final redemption?

Dear Binyomin,

Kabbalah certainly has 'redeeming' qualities. But it has dangers as well. On his death-bed, the Arizal (preeminent Kabbalist, 16th century Safed, Israel) told Rabbi Yitzchak Hakohen: "Tell the disciples in my name that from today they are to stop studying Kabbalah." He warned that they might misunderstand it and thus come to harm.

I spoke to Rabbi Shlomo Fisher, shlita, about this statement of the Vilna Gaon. He explained it as follows: Learning Kabbalah requires an exceptionally high spiritual level. The Geula will come when the people at that high level learn Kabbalah.

As far as the 'significance' of your studies in bringing the Geula, the Talmud says that Torah study helps us survive the exile. And were the whole Jewish people to learn Torah, the Geula would come immediately!

Sources:

Even Shleima 11:3
Shivchei Rabbi Chaim Vital pp. 25b-26a

Yiddle Riddle

Contents

Triplets and their cousin are born within a 2 hour period, yet the brit milah for each of the four takes place on four consecutive days. They are all healthy - i.e., no jaundice or other health problems. How can this be?

(Based on a riddle sent in by Shlomo Steinhart)

Written by Rabbi Moshe Lazerus, Rabbi Benzion Bamberger, Rabbi Reuven Subar, Rabbi Avrohom Lefkowitz and other Rabbis at Ohr Somayach Institutions / Tanenbaum College, Jerusalem, Israel.
General Editor: Rabbi Moshe Newman
Production Design: Lev Seltzer
HTMIL Design: Michael Treblow

© 1995 Ohr Somayach International - All rights reserved. This publication may be distributed to another person intact without prior permission. We also encourage you to include this material in other publications, such as synagogue newsletters. However, we ask that you contact us beforehand for permission, and then send us a sample issue.

This publication is available via E-Mail

Ohr Somayach Institutions is an international network of Yeshivot and outreach centers, with branches in North America, Europe, South Africa and South America. The Central Campus in Jerusalem provides a full range of educational services for over 685 full-time students. The Jewish Learning Exchange (JLE) of Ohr Somayach offers summer and winter programs in Israel that attract hundreds of university students from around the world for 3 to 8 weeks of study and touring.