Unlearned
Person with Spiritual Powers
Q:
Can a person who is not a Torah scholar suddenly become a prophet?
A:
Not a prophet and not a person with Ruach Ha-Kodesh, since an unlearned person
cannot be righteous, and righteousness is a condition for holiness and Ruach
Ha-Kodesh. Shaarei Kedusha of Rabbenu
Chaim Vital 3:8.
Q:
How then can we explain Manoach?
A:
This was a one-time event. So too
Avimelech and Bilaam's donkey. Shut
Ha-Rashba 1:548.
Holding
the Chuppah Pole
Q:
Is it true that if one holds the Chuppah pole it is a Segulah for finding a
match?
A:
There is no source for this (This was also the response of Ha-Rav Chaim
Kanievski. Segulot Raboteinu, pp.
218-219).
Segulah
for Chanukah Wicks
Q:
I heard that there is a Segulah to find a match by taking the leftover oil and
wicks from the Chanukiyah, burning them and then walking over them 7
times. What is the source?
A:
Nonsense (And Ha-Rav Ben Tzion Mutzafi wrote in Shut Doresh Tzion: I have not
heard about this).
[By
the way, regarding burning the wicks, the Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim 677:4)
writes that one should burn the leftover oil in the Chanukiyah at the
conclusion of Chanukah. The commentaries
add that the same should be done with the wicks which are saturated with the
oil. The reason one should burn them is
because they were set aside for a Mitzvah and may not be used for another
purpose (such as burning or eating). If
they are put aside for the next year, there is a fear that they will
accidentally be used (see Tur ibid. and Mishnah Berurah #19).
If
so, it would appear that there is no obligation to burn them according to the
basic Halachah, since the only fear is that someone may use them. It would also therefore be permissible to
bury them or place them in a plastic bag and throw them out.
In
his commentary on Pirkei Avot 'Az Yomru' (pp. 131-133), Ha-Rav Yitzchak Aharon
Goldberger, Dayan and Rosh Yeshiva of Chasidei Pupa, writes that he discussed
this question with the Admor of Pupa.
Rav Goldberger once saw the Admor in the middle of the night bothering
himself to burn them in the courtyard, moving them around with a stick in the
fire until they were completely burnt up into ash. Rav Goldberger said that perhaps there is no
obligation to burn the wicks, just as it is permissible to throw out detached
Tzitzit as long as it is done in a non-disgraceful manner, or to place them in
a Geniza according to the custom of those who are meticulous in Mitzvah
observance (Shulchan Aruch and Rama, Orach Chaim 21:1). Similarly, it is permissible to wrap
separated Challah in paper and throw it in the garbage if it is difficult to
burn it, so that no mishap occurs (Mahar"i Steif brought in Teshuvot
Ha-Maor. And also brought in Moadim
Uzmanim 7:177. See also Shut Minchat
Yitzchak 4:13).
The
Admor of Pupa responded that perhaps his words are correct, but since our Sages
used the term "to burn it", he prefers to perform the obligation
according to what our Sages said. He is
therefore particular to completely burn the wicks. And this is the Minhag among some Chasidim,
and the meticulous burn them among a large group of people.
I
did see, however that Ha-Rav Chaim Kanievski answered that the wicks may be
buried (Shut Yadon Moshe 12:71).
This,
however, has no connection to a Segulah – M.T.]
