המעין

תקציר המאמרים באנגלית

Table of Contents

Abstracts                                                                                                                     II

A Letter from the Rogachover Gaon upon the appointment of a Rav to a community / Rav Uri Redman                                                                                                    3

About Suriya and Kibush Yahid, and the First and Second Kedushot / Rav Yehezkel Yacobson                                                                                                                 9

About the version of the Prayer after Limud / Y.C. & Rav Yitzhak Ratsabi    16

Seven preliminary remarks regarding the study of natural science (Chochmat Hateva) / Dr. Shimon Bollag                                                                                              21

Agunot rulings of Maran Bet Yosef - principle vs. practice / Rav Arye Katz               39

The explanation of the oath not to `climb the wall` [La`alot BaChoma] / Rav Avraham Weiss                                                                                                                                 47

The debate over whether the Swordfish is a Kosher fish / Rav Dr. Ari Z. Zivotofsky                                                                                                                                     58

Memories of the 1945 Seder night at Bergen Belzen / Yoseph Weiss ZL; R. Yona Emanuel ZTL                                                                                                   73

 

Responses and Comments

Reaction to Prof. Lev ZL`s comments on the book "Making of a Godol" / Rav Yaakov Gershon Weiss                                                                                                       77

Rebuttal By the author of "Making of a Godol" / Rav Nathan Kamenetsky                 80

Rav Pardo did not forget the Gemara! / Rav Amichai Kinarti                         96

Comment about the burglar [Ganav Haba Bamachteret] / Rav Zalman Nehemiah Goldberg                                                                                                           97

Arguments in favor and against the "royal" dynasty of the Hasmoneans in the theories of Rambam and Ramban / Rav Dr. Ari Schwat                             98

Half of Kuntres ha'Shmita of the Natziv is not from the Natziv / Eitam Henkin          102

Editorial Review of recent Torani Publications / Rav Yoel Catane                  105

 

Abstracts

Rav Uri Redman: A Letter from the Rogachover Gaon upon the appointment of a Rav to a community

The daughter of the Rogachover, Rebbetzen Rachel Citron, widow of Rav Yisrael Aba Citron, Rav of Petach Tikva, went to Dvinsk (Dinenburg) to rescue her father's writings after his death. Between 1940-1941 she managed to photograph her father's manuscripts and send the photos to the United States, before she was murdered by the Germans. Among his papers was a letter he wrote to Rav Aharon David Yafe, one of the best students of the Slabodka Yeshiva and co-editor of the writings of Rav Meir Simcha HaKohen of Dvinsk, the author of the Or Sameach, on his appointment to the rabbinate of the Lithuanian town Kashedri. Rav Yafe subsequently was murdered, together with many members of his Kehilla. The letter is published here, for the first time, with comments and notes, by Rav Uri Redman, Rav in Petach Tikva, eighty years after it was written.

 

Rav Yehezkel Yacobson: About Suriya and Kibush Yahid, and the First and Second Kedushot

Sha`alvim`s Rosh HaYeshiva, Rav Yehezkel Yacobson Shalita, discusses again the well known Sugiya of Kibush Yahid, Kedusha Rishona, Kedusha Sheniya and the Halachic status of Suriya, and presents a Hidush: he believes that the occupation of Yehoshua, that made Eretz Yisrael the land of all Am Yisrael, was never canceled nor invalidated. When Hazal say that the first Kedusha ceased they do not relate at all to the first phase, the occupation, but solely to the second stage, the division of the land and its consequences. That is the reason that the occupation of Suriya, during the Second Temple period, did not change the Kedusha of Suriya.

 

Y.C. & Rav Yitzhak Ratsabi: About the version of the Prayer after Limud

Rabbi Yitzhak Ratsabi Shalita, one of the greatest Rabanim of Yemenite jewry in Eretz Yisrael, answers the question of the editor of HaMa`yan about the version of the prayer after Limud. The common version has a curse on those who do not study Torah, which is not found in the Gemara and the Rambam. Upon further research it is not found in the ancient Yemeni version either.

 

Dr. Shimon Bollag: Seven preliminary remarks regarding the study of natural science

Dr. Shimon Bollag, Sha`alvim alumnus, member of the board of HaMa`yan and lecturer in mathematics at Machon Lev, collected seven insights by our Chachamim, elucidating the Torah approach to the study of natural science, based upon a Yirat Shamayim outlook. Among others, he elaborates on the origin of the word "Teva" used for "nature", the numerological values of "Hateva" and "Elohim", and the two ways of studying science: One path leads to the ultimate conclusion of a Divine creator and absolute Ruler; The other one, omitting the Creator altogether, uses laws of natural cause and effect exclusively, without referring to the continuous and ongoing renewal of the world by HKB"H. Such a way will lead to identify the outcomes of any Divine intervention (e.g. causing major ecological and geological events) as them being the causa prima for the results of those events. As such this leads to a Godless picture of nature and the world.

 

Rav Arye Katz: Agunot rulings of Maran Bet Yosef - principle vs. practice

The issue of Heter Agunot has always held a central place in the Responsa literature. In the Responsa "Beit Yosef" on Even HaEzer, as well, this issue is the subject of over a quarter of the answers. In this article an attempt is made to compare the different Psakim about Agunot laws of R. Yoseph Caro in his Psak books - Bet Yosef and Shulchan Arouch - and in those found in his Responsa – answers Halacha Lema`ase. This article examined the various Psakim concerning the validity of the testimony of a Goy Mesiach Lefi Toumo [=a non-jew in informal conversation], the need to testify about the place of the dead and of the identifiability of the dead after three days. The conclusion is that Rav Yosef Caro was more lenient in his responsa than in the decisions found in his Psak books.

 

Rav Avraham Weiss: The explanation of the oath not to `climb the wall`

Rabbi Avraham Weiss disagrees with the opinion of the Satmar Rebbe that any organized effort to increase the population of Eretz Yisrael is forbidden, even if it does not defy the rulers of the land or the Goyim of the world. It would depend upon Rashi`s explanation of the phrase "BeYad Hazaka" ['with strong hand'] in his commentary on the Torah on the story of Yetsiat Mitsrayim. Rabbi Weiss brings many proofs against the opinion of the Satmar Rebbe ZTL.

 

Rav Dr. Ari Z. Zivotofsky: The debate over whether the Swordfish is a Kosher fish

Distinguishing between kosher and non-kosher fish should be a relatively simple matter: the presence of halachik scales defines a fish as kosher, their absence categorizes it as non-kosher. Nonetheless, the kosher status of the swordfish (Xiphias gladius) has been fiercely debated during the past half century. Approximately 350 years ago Rabbi Chaim Benvenisti, the Knesset haGedolah, ruled that a "fish with a sword" was kosher and widely eaten. This went unchallenged until approximately 60 years ago, when Rabbi Moshe Tendler declared the swordfish prohibited. That set off a heated debate that culminated in an almost total ban on swordfish. This paper traces that debate through the original sources in rabbinic journals and responsa literature.

 

Yoseph Weiss ZL; R. Yona Emanuel ZTL: Memories of the 1945 Seder night at Bergen Belzen

Shmuel Emanuel, a veteran member of Kibutz Sha`alvim, who lived through the terrible 1945 Seder night at Bergen Belzen concentration camp, describes the impressive figure of the late Yoseph (Yoop) Weiss, the deputy camp commander, who helped his fellow Jews as best he could. There are here some terrible and exciting memories of that night by Yoseph Weiss ZL and by the older brother of Shmuel Emanuel, the Editor-in-Chief of HaMa`yan, R. Yona Emanuel ZTL.

 

Responses and Comments

In commemoration of the fifth anniversary of the demise of Professor Ze`ev Lev ZL, HaMa’yan printed the lecture he delivered at the 5763 convention of the Association of Orthodox Scientists on the ban issued on “Making of a Godol” that year. The thrust of his lecture was that the ban was unjustified. Rav Yaakov Gershon Weiss from Yerushalayim disagrees strongly with Professor Lev, and contends that there are even more faults with the book than have been previously reported. The author, Rav Nathan Kamenetsky, refutes Rav Weiss’s charges and, in passing, reveals some of the events that led to the ban being extended even to his later-published “Improved Edition” of the book. He ends his article by pleading that now, after seven years since the issuance of the ban, the time has come to set aside any more wrangling about his book.

Rav Kinarti from Itamar makes a correction to an article previously published in HaMa`yan, and HaGaon Rav Z.N. Goldberg Shalita discusses again the question of the status of a burglar [Ganav Haba Bamachteret] in our time. Rav Ari Schvat notes that the Rambam judges the Hasmonean dynasty even more harshly than the Ramban, believing they transgressed one of the basic principles of Judaism. Nevertheless, the Rambam emphasizes that on Chanukah we thank Hashem for those 200 years of Jewish sovereignty, despite his explicit acknowledgement that a) the kings were not from the Davidic family, b) its spiritual level was horrific, and c) it was temporary. Despite their complaints, were the Rambam and Ramban to see the Book of Maccabees, they’d be pleasantly surprised that the sons of Matityahu titled themselves: rulers, presidents, heads, and leaders, but not “kings”.

"This whole section is not from my father", wrote Rav Chaim Berlin, the son of the Natziv MiVolozin, In a letter that was recently published, concerning the second half of Kuntres ha'Shmita in his father`s book, Meshiv Davar. The author of this section, in fact, is Rav Yehoshua H. Margolios from Vishenyova. Eitam Henkin, in a succinct article, points that this fact could have been identified more than one hundred years ago, by simply comparing it with Rav Margolios` booklet, Kol Hator. However, not even one researcher or bibliographer recognized this wrong ascription.

Last but not least, a review of Judaica books, received by HaMa`yan, by the editor.