Ha-Rav
answers hundreds of text message questions a day! Here's a sample:
Sherayim
of the Rebbe
Q:
What is the source for eating Sherayim (leftover food) of a Rebbe? Is there something to it?
A:
It has no clear source in the Gemara nor the Poskim. Some learn it from the Gemara Chagiga (13b)
that it is forbidden to eat a loaf of bread from which a mouse nibbled since
the impurity has spread throughout, and this is all the more so when a
righteous person eats from it that the purity spreads throughout (Ha-Rav
Avraham Shapira explained it in this manner.
When this explanation was related to Ha-Rav Moshe Halberstam, member of
the Badatz of the Eidah Ha-Charedit, he said: "I am familiar with all the
statements regarding Sherayim except this one." Rosh Devarcha, p. 108). Or the Yerushalami Moed Katan (2:3) which
says that after the meal celebrating the New Month, Rebbe Yohanan would collect
the crumbs and eat them, saying: "May I spend my life in the next world
together with those who ate here last evening" (Brought in Shaarim
Metzuyanim Be-Halachah 42:2. Derech
Sichah vol. 1, p. 220 in the name of Ha-Rav Chaim Kanievski. And Chasidim ask: If one is strict not to
sell actual Chametz for Pesach, is it permissible for him to sell a piece of
Sherayim from his Rebbe? The Poskim
answer: yes. Shut Nachalat Pinchas 1:1 #65. Brought in Ki Ba Moed – Pesach vol.
1, p. 8. And Ha-Rav Aviner told me:
"This is a big Chidush, since he is interested in saving it and perhaps there
is no Bitul". And the Gerrer Rebbe
once said to Maran Ha-Rav Kook: "Chasidim eat Sherayim of their Rebbe,
i.e. they nullify themselves to their Rebbe.
To whom do you nullify yourselves?"
Maran Ha-Rav Kook answered him: "We eat the Sherayim of Klal
Yisrael." And Maran Ha-Rav Kook
already wrote that the greatest Tzadik does not reach the ankles of Klal
Yisrael. See Orot 76, 176).
Relation
to Arabs
Q:
I am volunteering at a center for mentally-challenged children, and there are
also Arab children there. How should I
relate to them? In a pleasant manner
like to the other children?
A:
Certainly. One has to be a human
being. It is not a battle field
there. See the introduction of the
Netziv to Sefer Bereshit.
Suffering
of Am Yisrael
Q:
What kind of Chosen People are we when we suffer and are killed all the
time? This is how Hashem loves us?
A:
This is complex for a text message. Ask
a Rabbi face-to-face. Asking a question
like this in a text message is a horrible belittling of the suffering of Am
Yisrael and a belittling of Hashem.
Q:
Thank you, it is truly a belittling.
A:
May Hashem bless you.
Aliyah
to Torah for Cohain who Married Divorcee
Q:
Can a Cohain who married a divorcee receive an Aliyah to the Torah?
A:
Ha-Rav Moshe Feinstein permits him to receive an Aliyah of a Yisrael, since he
nullified his holiness. Shut Igrot Moshe
(Orach Chaim 2:33). And Ha-Rav Ovadiah
Yosef permits him to receive an Aliyah only after the first 7 obligatory
Aliyot. Shut Yechaveh Daat (2:16).
Eating
while Standing Up
Q:
I saw that the Rambam writes that one should eat while sitting. Hilchot Deot 4:3. Is this the Halachah?
A:
He writes this from a medical perspective, and now there is no such
concern. But it is proper from the
perspective of etiquette. Piskei
Teshuvot 170:22.
Film
about Expulsion from Gush Katif on Tisha Be-Av
Q:
Is it permissible to see a film about the expulsion from Gush Katif on Tisha
Be-Av?
A:
It is forbidden to read books that arouse all sorts of inclinations. Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 307:16. And this is all the more so for movies. Therefore, these films which usually arouse
hatred towards the army, government, etc., are forbidden all year round, and
all the more so on Tisha Be-Av.
