The End, for now

Hi,

It is with a great deal of regret that I announce that I do not expect to send out daily Torah Thought and daily Jewish Law emails in the foreseeable future.

I began sending out these emails in 1997, and I am grateful to those who have been with me since those days when this was a local email list confined to the Jewish community of Pawtucket/Providence, Rhode Island, as well as to those who joined more recently. I have enjoyed our on-line and off-line exchanges, and I have benefited from the pressure to come up with a new email each day. Some of these posts have come at sensitive times in my life, and have offered a chance to express what was on my mind. Some have just been whatever I opened up to that day. Some have been from source sheets for my classes. I take some pride in noting that there are more than 2,000 posts in each of my daily blogs, and the great, great majority are not duplicates.

However: at this stage in life I feel a strong need to impose strict priorities on how I use my time, in order to improve my chances of accomplishing some of the goals I have set for myself.

I am not going anywhere; I am still reachable by email, and I hope that the fact that I won't be in your Inbox each morning won't lead you to forget me. And who knows? Perhaps there will come a time when I will come back to this. I intend to leave these sites on-line; at the least, they may be useful for people who are researching a particular idea or law.

Thank you for reading, and please keep in touch,
Mordechai

Smoking to calm nerves while saving lives on Shabbat

Hi,

One who is engaged in saving lives on Shabbat, and who wants to smoke to calm his nerves, should find another means of calming his nerves, among the many means available. This is not a fundamental part of saving lives, such that it would justify violating Shabbat.

(Rivivot Ephraim 1:249:1)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Using an egg-slicer on Shabbos

Hi,

Sources prohibit use of mechanical blades on Shabbat to chop up food that comes from the ground, due to the prohibition against grinding. However, this will not apply to an egg slicer, because these blades only slice. Also, one may argue that the egg is not part of the class of foods that "grow from the ground."

(Rivivot Ephraim 1:248)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Pesach material

Hi,

We are supposed to begin learning the laws of Pesach thirty days before Pesach - so it's already late!

Please look in the sidebar of http://halachahbyemail.blogspot.com for links to Pesach-related posts; there is quite a bit to choose from.

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Adding water to chulent on Shabbos

Hi,

One may add water to a chulent on Shabbos, if the water is poured from a kettle that has been on a blech. The chulent should be removed from the heat first and held by someone else while water is added, and then returned to the heat afterward.

(Rivivot Ephraim 1:256)

[Note: The chulent pot should itself be on a covered flame, and the water in the kettle must be fully heated. Also, there is some debate regarding whether the lid must be placed atop the chulent before the chulent is returned to the heat. For a good collection of details/sources, look here.]

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Salt on Matzah?

Hi,

As the 30-day countdown to Pesach begins, here is a Pesach law:

Am I supposed to put salt on matzah at the Seder?

We are taught to put salt on bread before reciting the berachah, to honour the berachah; refining the bread by adding salt or other foods later in the meal would reflect poorly on the bread used for the berachah. [Note: This is not only a Shabbat or Yom Tov practice; it is a daily practice.]

Various Ashkenazi authorities record a custom of refraining from using salt at the Seder, because (1) matzah is "clean bread" and does not need salt, (2) adding salt would reduce the "poor man's bread" aspect of the seder's matzah and (3) we show love of the mitzvah by refusing to mix in anything else. Some even refrain from salting matzah all through Pesach. On the other hand, others specifically use salt to improve the taste of the matzah, making the mitzvah more attractive. One should follow his family custom.

Regardless of one's custom regarding adding salt, one should keep salt on the table in order to link the food with the salt-laden korbanos brought in the Beis haMikdash.

(Maharil Seder Haggadah 32; Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 167:5, 475:1; Mishneh Berurah 167:26-28; 475:4; Aruch haShulchan Orach Chaim 475:5)

Have a great day,

Mordechai

Giving Mishloach Manot as a Couple?

Hi,

Do a husband and wife fulfill mishloach manos by giving a joint gift?

Men and women are independently obligated in all of the mitzvos of Purim. Therefore, husbands and wives are obligated to send their own gifts of mishloach manos, and not to rely on each other's gifts.

Historically, many have relied on their spouses to send on their behalf; this may have been a measure to avoid inappropriate intimacy in cases in which men sent gifts and women received them, or vice versa. Halachic authorities recommend avoiding this problem by having men and women send to their own gender.

(Darchei Moshe Orach Chaim 695:7; Rama Orach Chaim 695:4; Magen Avraham 695:14; Pri Chadash Orach Chaim 695:4; Shevut Yaakov 1:41; Birkei Yosef Orach Chaim 695:8; R' Akiva Eiger to Megilah 4a; Shaarei Teshuvah 695:9; B'Tzel haChochmah 5:51:5; Mishneh Berurah 695:25)

חג פורים שמח,

Mordechai