My daughter and son-in-law made a beautiful kiddush this (or "a", depending on when I get to finish this TftD) past Shabbos in honor of their newest addition. It was beautiful and inspiring and, of course, gave us yet another excuse to travel to Boca Raton to visit our children there. Anyone who has been to Florida in August can testify that we certainly were not going for the weather. As my mother-in-law lives there as well, we also got the mitzvah of כיבוד אם. Not a bad week.
There was one wee little issue. The basic stance of Torah Judaism is that we are guests in the host nations in which we live outside of Eretz Yisrael. That means we need to respect, to whatever extent is possible, the feelings and sensitivities of our hosts. We don't build ostentatious shuls, for example. We don't have Torah Pride parades, for another example. There we are, of course, proud of who we are and what represent, but there is no reason to "rub our hosts noses" in our differences. On the other hand, we won't violate our principles, either; not to the slightest degree. Personally, at work I have had to excuse myself from a funeral because it was held in a church and from a going away lunch because it was held in a non-kosher restaurant. I explained to the parties involved; some understood and were gracious, others... no so. Regardless, we are different and need to maintain a separation, but at the same time be friendly and accommodating. CYLOR
That's not the wee little issue. My children's community has a very good eiruv. None the less, the Mishna Brura rules that a בעל נפש should not rely on any eiruv except in case of great need. Rabbi Fuerst certainly poskens that way and I follow his p'sak religiously. That's not the wee little issue, either. I make every attempt to daven k'vasikin every day, especially on Shabbos and Yom Tov. Goodness gracious, there is obviously no issue with that at all!
We are almost to the wee little issue. The local rav in my children's community paskens that wearing a tallis outside over (or under) one's suit is inappropriate behaviour in the Boca Raton area. There is also a mosque around the corner and the feeling is... keep a low profile. Since I daven k'vasikin through shacharis at about 6:30 AM and then wait to for Torah reading and mussaf with the congregation. (As is the p'sak of the Mishna Brura for anyone who regularly davens k'vasikin.) I daven sharcharis wherever I am staying, then walk to shul for the rest of davening.
Really, really almost there, now. I need to have a tallis for both shacharis and mussaf. I can't daven shacharis at the shul because it is locked and no one else is crazy/dedicated/interested enough in the advantage of k'vasikin to open up the shul at 6:20 AM just for me to daven early there. The rav doesn't want me to wear my tallis from home to shul. Not a real problem, as I had both my weekday and Shabbos tallis with me. I just left one in shul Friday afternoon for me to use for mussaf the next day.
So, here's the wee little issue: Do I leave my weekday or Shabbos tallis and shul for mussaf? Put another way: Should I use my Shabbos or weekday tallis for shacharis? On the one hand, shacharis is the main t'filla, so maybe I should use my Shabbos tallis for shacharis. On the other hand, mussaf is a t'fila that is unique to Shabbos (and Yom Tov and Rosh Chodesh, but not weekday). At that point, I called R' Fuerst. After just the slightest hesitation -- a very satisfying hesitation to me, because it means my question is new to him and reasonable -- R' Fuerst told me to use my Shabbos tallis for shacharis and leave my weekday tallis at shul for mussaf. Ta-Da.
Perhaps you think I spent too much time on this issue. It's a free country and you are entitled to your opinion.
There was one wee little issue. The basic stance of Torah Judaism is that we are guests in the host nations in which we live outside of Eretz Yisrael. That means we need to respect, to whatever extent is possible, the feelings and sensitivities of our hosts. We don't build ostentatious shuls, for example. We don't have Torah Pride parades, for another example. There we are, of course, proud of who we are and what represent, but there is no reason to "rub our hosts noses" in our differences. On the other hand, we won't violate our principles, either; not to the slightest degree. Personally, at work I have had to excuse myself from a funeral because it was held in a church and from a going away lunch because it was held in a non-kosher restaurant. I explained to the parties involved; some understood and were gracious, others... no so. Regardless, we are different and need to maintain a separation, but at the same time be friendly and accommodating. CYLOR
That's not the wee little issue. My children's community has a very good eiruv. None the less, the Mishna Brura rules that a בעל נפש should not rely on any eiruv except in case of great need. Rabbi Fuerst certainly poskens that way and I follow his p'sak religiously. That's not the wee little issue, either. I make every attempt to daven k'vasikin every day, especially on Shabbos and Yom Tov. Goodness gracious, there is obviously no issue with that at all!
We are almost to the wee little issue. The local rav in my children's community paskens that wearing a tallis outside over (or under) one's suit is inappropriate behaviour in the Boca Raton area. There is also a mosque around the corner and the feeling is... keep a low profile. Since I daven k'vasikin through shacharis at about 6:30 AM and then wait to for Torah reading and mussaf with the congregation. (As is the p'sak of the Mishna Brura for anyone who regularly davens k'vasikin.) I daven sharcharis wherever I am staying, then walk to shul for the rest of davening.
Really, really almost there, now. I need to have a tallis for both shacharis and mussaf. I can't daven shacharis at the shul because it is locked and no one else is crazy/dedicated/interested enough in the advantage of k'vasikin to open up the shul at 6:20 AM just for me to daven early there. The rav doesn't want me to wear my tallis from home to shul. Not a real problem, as I had both my weekday and Shabbos tallis with me. I just left one in shul Friday afternoon for me to use for mussaf the next day.
So, here's the wee little issue: Do I leave my weekday or Shabbos tallis and shul for mussaf? Put another way: Should I use my Shabbos or weekday tallis for shacharis? On the one hand, shacharis is the main t'filla, so maybe I should use my Shabbos tallis for shacharis. On the other hand, mussaf is a t'fila that is unique to Shabbos (and Yom Tov and Rosh Chodesh, but not weekday). At that point, I called R' Fuerst. After just the slightest hesitation -- a very satisfying hesitation to me, because it means my question is new to him and reasonable -- R' Fuerst told me to use my Shabbos tallis for shacharis and leave my weekday tallis at shul for mussaf. Ta-Da.
Perhaps you think I spent too much time on this issue. It's a free country and you are entitled to your opinion.
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