Additional
Citizenship
Q:
Is it worthwhile to apply for an additional citizenship, beside Israeli
citizenship, since in the past having citizenship in another country saved
Jews' lives?
A:
No. Israel is the safest place in the
world for Jews. Baruch Hashem, we have
Tzahal, the dedicated messenger of Hashem.
In the year 5773, an Avreich send a letter to Ha-Rav Chaim Kaniensky
asking if he should apply for British passports for his family (his parents
were British citizens), out of a fear for what the Iranians would do to
Israel. Rav Kanievsky responded with the
words of the Pesach Hagadah: "This [promise] is what has stood by our
forefathers and by us! For not one alone has risen against us to destroy us but
in every generation they rise against us to destroy us, and The Holy One,
Blessed Be He, saves us from their hand"!
Walking
Under Ladder
Q:
Is it forbidden to walk under a ladder?
A:
It is a Christian superstition, since the form of the ladder creates a
triangle, and a trinity is holy to them.
It is therefore forbidden for them to impinge upon it. One should certainly be careful when one
walks under a ladder so that it, or an object resting it, does not fall on him
(Ner Be-Ishon Laila p. 234).
Medical
Experiment
Q:
Is it permissible for me to participate in a medical experiment for money, in
which they extract some of my blood and then put it back without the white
blood cells, or is it forbidden on account of the prohibition of wounding
oneself?
A:
It is permissible. 1. It is a small hole
and not a wound, and it will heal. 2. It
is a medical need.
Swiping
the Letters of a Sefer Torah
Q:
I received an Aliyah to the Torah and the Baal Keriyah told me not to swipe my
Talit on the letters of the Torah but rather on the white part of the
parchment. Is he correct?
A:
Yes. There is fear of erasing the
letters and invalidating the Sefer Torah, erasing Hashem's Name which is a
violation of "Do not do so to Hashem your God" (Devarim 12:4) and, on
Shabbat, of desecrating Shabbat by erasing (Shut Tzvi Tiferet of the Darchei
Teshuvah #99 in the name of the Ha-Admor Sar Shalom of Belz. Shut Hitorerut Teshuvah #365. And so too in Nimukei Orach Chaim #139 that
there is no halachah or act of piety involving kissing the letters
themselves. And in Shaarei Chaim [Shaar
4 #20] it is brought that the Shineva Rebbe, son of the Divrei Chaim, was
careful to kiss the parchment where there was no writing. Shaarim Metzuyanim Be-Halachah #23 ot 2. The Admor of Erlau was also very particular
regarding this. Halichot Ve-Hanhagot
Imrei Sofer Volume 1, p. 79 and footnote #18.
And Ha-Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach said that there is no need to even
kiss the Sefer Torah. He would bend down
and kiss the Torah mantle. Ve-Alehu Lo
Yibol Volume 1, pp. 99-100. Ha-Rav Moshe
Feinstein, however, would swipe his Talit on the text itself. Masoret Moshe Volume 3, p. 122).
Adding
Name
Q:
How does one add a name for an ill person?
A:
1. The prayer printed at the end of some editions of Tehilim. 2. Mi She-Beirach during an Aliyah, and
mention the additional name.
Tachanun
on the Day of Making Aliyah
Q:
Should one recite Tachanun on the day he makes Aliyah,?
A:
No. And some say that the entire Minyan
should not recite it. The Rambam
established a holiday on the day he made Aliyah (Ha-Rav Menashe Klein - the
Ungavare Rav - also responded this way to the Admor of Slonim, since one who
dwells in Eretz Israel does so without sin [Ketubot 111], and it is like a
groom whose transgressions are forgiven, and therefore the Minyan does not
recite Tanchanun. Shut Mishneh Halachot
11:111. This is unlike the opinion of
Ha-Rav Chaim Kaniesky who holds that one should recite Tanchanun on the day of
making Aliyah. Le-Binyamin Amar p. 19).
Bald
Woman
Q:
Is a bald woman required to cover her head?
A:
Yes.
