Michael el Chayil

My wife is, bli ayin hara, an amazing baker. She is the Bubbie about whom the other girls in my granddaughter's bunk in summer camp said, "Oh wow! You brought some of your Bubbie's cookies!?" Today she made the best cookies ever. They are gluten free and delicious. That's not what makes them -- for me, anyway -- the best cookies ever. These cookies are made with almond flour, rolled oats, pumpkin pie filling, and egg, some vanilla, and oil. I only know that because I needed to know what bracha to make. Here are the issues. First, rolled oats are "borei pri ha'adama". Cooked oats, on the other hand, are "borei minei m'zonos". Almond flour, pumpkin pie filling, and oil are all, of course, "she'ha'kol". The overwhelming majority of of the cookie ( Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies ; but substitute almond flour for the real flour) volume is from "she'ha'kol" ingredients. Normally that would mean that the bracha on ...

The first mishna in the third chapter of masechta Avodah Zarah (daf 40b) discusses what sorts of statues are considered idols. One of flavor that the sages consider an idol is a statue holding a כדור. Now, as far as I know, כדור means a spherical object and nothing else. Yet, Rashi decided it needed extra explanation and gives the old French equivalent: פילוטא/pelota -- which, from my Spanish I know also means "ball". And in case you don't get it yet, Tosafos (41a, ד''ה כדור) weighs in: because the world is round, as recorded in the Yerushalmi that Alexander the Great went up until he saw the world like a ball () and the ocean (that is, the ocean that surrounds the whole world) like a basin. First, of course, apparently the ancient world knew very well that the world was round like a ball. What's my proof? The reason a statue of a person holding a globe is considered an idol is that the globe represents the world and the statue is meant to show that he (person...

 From TftD, Remember Why You are Here : From R' Meilach Biderman: They built this campus with four buildings. One had several floors of rooms for sleeping. Another was a grand dining hall. The third was a beautiful beis midrash. Last, but not least, a gymnasium. Only one thing was missing: They hadn't put up a sign to say whether it was a resort or a yeshiva. What's the difference? They both need the same structures. The only difference is attitude. In a yeshiva, the beis medrash is the focus of everything. Of course, to learn and daven well, you need to stay healthy; that means eating healthy, keeping fit, and getting enough rest. But a resort? The focus for some is the dining hall, for others the sleeping quarters, for others it is the gymnasium. Of course there has to be a beis medrash; after all, they'll want to daven in the morning, maybe catch a mincha and ma'ariv. Some will even grab a quick daf for the day. R' Meilach said this world is that campus -- it...

I know it is slightly out of character to put Hebrew text in the title of a TftD. I am also painfully aware that "the עשרת הדיברות" is a bit redundant. Sigh... leaving out the "the" in English sounds/looks wrong, and I simply refuse to use the misleading and wrong translation that King James foisted on us. And " Decalogue"?! Please. The whole world knows that there were two tablets -- five each. One tablet expressed the expressions related to man's role vis-à-vis his (please do not start in on my about pronouns, you know very well what I mean) Creator, the other five his role vis-à-vis other humans. (There, is that better?) The Ramban takes it one step deeper and shows how all of them are really for building a relationship with the Creator. The Ramban sees the order of the עשרת הדיברות as taking us from the most basic obligation of belief in a Unique Creator through its logical ramifications -- 1,2,3,4; then there is a transition to the critters -- 5; ...

From R' Meilach Biderman: They built this campus with four buildings. One had several floors of rooms for sleeping. Another was a grand dining hall. The third was a beautiful beis midrash. Last, but not least, a gymnasium. Only one thing was missing: They hadn't put up a sign to say whether it was a resort or a yeshiva. What's the difference? They both need the same structures. The only difference is attitude. In a yeshiva, the beis medrash is the focus of everything. Of course, to learn and daven well, you need to stay healthy; that means eating healthy, keeping fit, and getting enough rest. But a resort? The focus for some is the dining hall, for others the sleeping quarters, for others it is the gymnasium. Of course there has to be a beis medrash; after all, they'll want to daven in the morning, maybe catch a mincha and ma'ariv. Some will even grab a quick daf for the day. R' Meilach said this world is that campus -- it has everything, but HaShem didn't p...

As previously mentioned, I recently discovered the wonderful shiurim of R' Meilach Biderman, shlita. When it rains, as they say, it pours. It turns out that you short video clips from R' Meilach's shiurim are available via WhatsApp! Just text "subscribe" to +1 (845) 293-2166 in WhatsApp and you'll receive further instructions. Each mini-shiur is from 30 seconds to a minute or two. One of my favorites so far, R' Meilach said over from the Belzer Rav that people make two mistakes in how they respond to shidduchim. First, when the shidduch is finalized, they make a l'chaim. When the shidduch breaks down, though, the whole family strengthens their t'filos. That's backwards, says the saintly Belzer Rav. When a shidduch falls apart, that is the time for l'chaim! Why? Baruch HaShem, that you have been saved from years of suffering! When the shidduch is finalized and everything is a go -- that is the time for everyone to strengthen their t'fi...

Every time I ask someone if they have heard of R' Meilach Biderman, they look at me like I am kidding... "Of course!" Ok, so once again I am the last to know; nu nu. I recently received a book of R' Meilach's thoughts on themes around the Jewish year.  The following really hit home with me. Imagine you see a young man a couple of weeks after his chasuna. You see he is completely ignoring his new wife and going about his business like she doesn't exist. You ask him, "Excuse me... didn't you get married recently?" He gets a big smile on his face. "I did! The wedding was amazing! And the week of sheva brachas was amazing; each nicer and more inspiring than the last. Especially on the last day when all my friends and family got together to make something really special." So now you are really confused and ask, "So, what's doing with you and your wife?" Now it is his turn to look perplexed. He thinks you are kidding... "Wh...

Here's an interesting and very practical question. It started with a friend telling me that he helps a neighbor to avoid a problem with yichud. The neighbor works from home; much more common now in the post-pandemic world where practically everything is done "on line" anyway. The neighbor 's wife, however, does not work from home; go figure, it's an upside down world nowadays. The issue is what to do when the cleaning lady is there. That's where my friend becomes the hero. He doesn't have to actually be there the entire time in the house, the neighbor just has to be nervous (enough) that my friend might pop in any time. That nervousness is enough to prevent inappropriate actions, and -- it follows -- the prohibition of yichud is not transgressed. So what's the question? My friend was going out of town on business for a day; out that morning, back that evening. Should he tell his neighbor that he is out of town, or better his neighbor doesn't know h...