Kosher salt has not got additives like regular salt. Additives you say? Most regular salt provides iodine, necessary for thyroid function. I don’t know where this iodine comes from, but it may not be a kosher source. Kosher salt has no iodine.
When a person is hyperthyroid or has thyroid cancer or various other thyroid problems, sometimes radioablation of the thyroid is necessary. This is done by giving a large dose of radioactive iodine ([sup]135[/sup]I), which is taken up almost exclusively by the thyroid. The [sup]135[/sup]I emits gamma radiation and kills the thyroid tissue. Anybody who has been through this procedure knows that they have to be on an iodine free diet for a week or so before hand. This is so the thyroid “craves” iodine, and quickly takes up all of the radioactive iodine upon administration. One must be very careful to not eat anything with added salt (bread, processed food, most meats). All salt eaten must be kosher salt, due to its lack of iodine.
It is a very difficult diet to follow, but it ensures that the therapy works effectively.
This is technically true, as most holidays don’t fall on the Sabbath. (It is similarly true that it is “mostly holidays that don’t fall on Monday”). But the blessing is made on holidays that do fall on the Sabbath as well.
Um, I hate to nitpick, but not everyone holds that way. I’ve been to shules (synagogues) that don’t have “duchening” (the blessing by the kohanim) on the Shabbos (the Sabbath). I’ve been to many that will have the “duchening,” but won’t have the chanting in between the sentences.
Well, as I understand it, Jewish congregations in, say, Israel, tend to be much more understanding of a rabbi’s non-liturgical functions. This is an impression garnered through reading and discussion, not someting I’ve personally seen or heard. But things like the giving of sermons, the conducting of services – my take is that these things seem to be expected of American rabbis much more than their European or Middle Eastern counterparts. I’ve speculated that this is because of the example of Christian clergy leading American Jews to sort of expect that this is what a rabbi should do.
I’m willing to learn on this point, though - as I’ve hinted elsewhere, my experience of the Jewish life is largely theoretical; I’ve done a great deal of study, but I never converted.
Might not be a bad idea to start another thread, since we’ve handled the salt business, to discuss a rabbi’s legal and investigative duties vs. his sacerdotal or liturgical duties. For example, he does not “marry” a couple in a priestly or religious sense – while he does confirm that both parties are Jewish and free to marry, and draw up the ketubah, those duties are more legal – finding a set of facts, creating a contract.
Not to draw unfair generalizations, but my Orthodox friends are pretty hip to these things; my Reform friends are… well… not quite so clear on things. Maybe I should have said “…in Reform American congregations…” above. I still remember a long discussion with a friend over how her son wouldn’t “get” Bar Mitzvah’ed for another three weeks after he turned 13 because of problems with getting the caterer. I pointed out that her son was a Bar Mitzvah at 13, period. No ceremony was required to “confer” Bar Mitzvah upon him, and if he didn’t havw the ceremony until he was 50… well, he’d still have become a bar mitzvah at age 13.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Knighted Vorpal Sword *
**
AFAIK the former are simply mistaken. The latter are following correct procedure - the chanting is for the congregation to say certain prayers, which are not said on Shabbos. (The guys who don’t duchen at all were probably confused by this).
Actually, I would hesitate to call those who don’t duchen on holidays that fall on Shabbos “mistaken.” The Beis Yosef (Orach Chaim 128) cites the Agur, who gives a reason for this practice, based on the following facts:
The optimal time for a Torah scholar to perform marital relations with his wife is Friday night;
By Biblical law (Lev. 15:18), engaging in marital relations renders a man tamei (spiritually impure), a condition which can be removed by immersing in a mikvah;
Kohanim should be tahor (spiritually pure) when duchening;
People don’t usually immerse themselves on Shabbos morning, because of various considerations (such as having to take care not to squeeze out one’s hair).
The Magen Avraham (128:70) approves of this reasoning. That said, it is true that other authorities, such as R’ Yaakov Emden, take strong issue with this custom.
As for not saying the prayers during duchening on Shabbos - this is also a matter of debate. The Magen Avraham (loc. cit.) brings both opinions, and decides that they should not be said at all; the Mishnah Berurah (130:4) holds that they may be said by one who is fasting that very day for a bad dream the night before; and Chabad custom - and maybe other communities do this too - is to say them even on Shabbos in all cases.
RedNaxela
I ask again for those Jewish Dopers who feel
themselves to be learned to start a thread.
I suggest “Come, kibbits with the mensches” for
a title.
Mangeorge-Judaism always give you points if you
sincerely try. If after having a nice corned-beef sandwich for lunch I notice that the bread contains butter, I’ve violated the halacha but I haven’t committed a sin. I bought all kosher ingredients and thought I had seperated meat and milk. The intention of keeping kosher and the effort put towards that goal get recorded in the Big Book Of Doc Cathode’s Good Deeds. The fact that the bread was actually dairy goes on a blooper reel.
Perhaps you could clarify somewhat; if the prayers are said by one who is fasting for a bad dream the night before, wouldn’t that imply that a person was fasting on Yom Tov? I was under the impression - and I very well may be wrong - that people were not allowed to fast on Yom Tov.
Well, yes and no. It’s true that what you did was unintentional, but you would still be obligated to bring a korban (offering) in the Temple. These days, since there is no Temple, you must still do teshuva for what you did, intentional or not. The fact that you were not careful and made a mistake is not a good thing.
In general, your impression is absolutely correct, KVS (can I call you that?). There is an exception made, though, for fasts after certain kinds of bad dreams.
This exception is based on two considerations: (a) Assuming that the dream in fact portends an unfavorable Divine judgment, G-d forbid, then our Sages tell us that fasting (and the associated repentance) the very next day are extremely effective in reversing it; (b) Since the person is anyway depressed because of the dream, he won’t fully enjoy the Shabbos/Yom Tov meal anyway, and indeed may well enjoy the fast more for its effectiveness in cancelling the Divine decree against him.
That said, though, fasting under such circumstances is itself considered sinful, and so the person is then obligated to fast again on the next possible day to atone for his violation of the spirit of Shabbos.
The later halachic authorities point out various other caveats in this connection; there is even an opinion that nowadays we should not fast for any dream, since we lack the expertise to know what it portends. In case of doubt, consult your local Orthodox Rabbi.
You can find all of the above - and a lot of other detail as well - in Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 288 and the commentaries there.
RedNaxela
[SUB][very slight nitpick][/SUB]
Actually, you wouldn’t bring a korban for this particular misdeed, for two reasons:
With a few rare exceptions, a korban is brought only for sins that carry a penalty of kareis (spiritual excision) if committed willfully. The penalty for eating a meat-and-milk mixture willfully is lashes.
The Torah prohibition applies only to meat and milk that were cooked together. The Rabbis extended it to cover all mixtures of milk and meat, but a korban is not brought for violations of Rabbinical prohibitions.
[SUP][/very slight nitpick][/SUP]
No question about it, though, this case would call for teshuvah - and a greater degree of teshuvah at that, since the forbidden substance is actually incorporated into the person’s body. (Thus, when the Talmud (Gittin 7a) states that G-d will not allow a truly righteous person to sin unintentionally, Tosafos (ibid., s.v. Hashta) limits this principle to ingestion of prohibited foods, since it is disgraceful for a righteous person’s body to contain such substances.)
Considering that this is the season of teshuvah, and that tomorrow night is Yom Kippur, this is a very timely discussion. May G-d help all of us to do teshuvah properly, and may we all be sealed in His Big Book of Good Deeds for a good year, for ourselves and for the world at large!
RedNaxela
It would appear that you may have misunderstood your sources here.
Not so. The Beis Yosef (and Agur) were not referring to refraining from duchening on Yom Tov that is on a Shabbos. Rather, they were discussing the Ashkenazic practice of not duchening every day, in contrast to the Sefardic (& current Israeli) practice. The one who applied this to Shabbos/Yom Tov was the Mogen Avrohom.
Not so. He merely suggests that this reasoning may be the reason for the practice (earlier he had said that he doesn’t know the reason and suggested that it was due to the prayers not being said, as I mentioned earlier. When he later brought the Beis Yosef, he added a paranthetical remark that it would seem that this is the reason for those who have that practice). There is no implication at all that he approved of the practice.
The Mishna Brura (128:165) sums it up thusly: “[the custom is to duchen on Yom Tov] both if it falls on Shabbos or a weekday. And there are places whose custom is to not duchen even on Yom Tov if it falls on Shabbos, but this custom is not the established one at all, as has been written by many achronim”.
On erev Yom Kippur (the day before Yom Kippur), many people wish each other “an easy fast.” My rebbe used to say (and probably still does) that one shouldn’t wish people an easy fast, but instead should wish “a productive fast.”
And so I wish everyone a productive fast, a meaningful fast, and may we all be zocheh (have merit) to see a peaceful year.
P.S. RedNaxela, you may call me KVS - everyone else does!
Yup, it looks like I did - thanks for the correction!
I had looked over that Magen Avraham quickly - too quickly, I guess - before I posted yesterday, and apparently by the time I got back to my computer, I misremembered what he said.
I guess it’s time for me to hit the books again and brush up on my learning skills. Yet another good practice to take on for Yom Kippur ;j
RedNaxela
Excellent point! A story from Rabbi Yisroel of Rizhin (one of the early Hassidic Rebbes):
A Hasid once came to tell him how he had decided to live a holier and more ascetic life. He had decided that henceforth he would eat only raw grain, drink only water, and he would only sleep on the ground. The rabbi told him “look outside and you will see someone else who eats only raw grain, drinks only water, and sleeps on the ground. And what is he? A horse!”
Point being that fasting and the like are meaningful only as part of a program of making one’s life more spiritual. Just to fast without thinking about what one is doing does not add a whole lot.
So add my best wishes to all for a meaningful fast, and a g’mar chassima tova.
