Michael el Chayil

My mother was 20 when I was born, and she passed away at 69. Do the math; I knew her for 69 years—though one could argue that the first year or two, at least, can hardly be counted as knowing someone. I met my wife on Oct 30, 1977; I was 19. We became engaged on Dec 17. Of course I had met my future in-laws before Dec 17, but after that I was invited to family dinner every Sunday. I will, בעזרת השם, turn 69 this year. Do the math; I knew my mother-in-law for 69 years—all of which (except that last 18 hours or so of her life) were unarguably time of full awareness to know someone. I am as qualified as any, and more than most, to give you an honest perspective on a life well lived. Since my mother-in-law's funeral was during Nissan, there were no eulogies. That is, speeches designed to bring the listeners to tears. I told those assembled that our tears are a comfort to the soul of the departed, as they can feel that they made a difference in this world. In this month, whose name mean...

As you may know, Pesach is less than 30 days away. You know that either because (1) we are past Purim and Pesach is always 30 days after Purim, or (2) the most oft-heard phrase in your home is, "Aaaagh!!! Pesach is less than a month away!!! Aaaagh!!" (Number of exclamation points is based on estimates by someone who no longer has children at home. Your level of stress and urgency may vary.) You would think that the oven, which has been filled with hot chameitz all year and now needs to be a completely chametz-free zone, would be a  huge  stress point. Nope. Preparing the oven nowadays is an eerily calm island in a sea of frustration. That is because the very same heat that created the problem can now be used to solve it. The basic rule is the way the chameitz went in is how we take it out. Of course, since it is Pesach, we are way stringent. Besides that, we like to destroy the chameitz instead of just removing it (which has its own disposal and contamination issues; not ...

Now that we know what bracha to make on non-kosher food, as detailed in this TftD , we are ready to address the original-ish question. (It is only "-ish" because that question was about water, which gets a resounding "no," but the question of using non-kosher wine is still open.) But, first, a joke. A Jew is meeting with a non-Jew at the non-Jew's house while the non-Jew is having a snack of ham and wine. (The reaons for the meeting and why at the house of the non-Jew and why the non-Jew choose this moment to eat are all beyond the scope of this joke.) The non-Jew is cordial and offers the Jew some ham. "No thank you. We only eat kosher food." The non-Jew is a bit surprised (again, outside the scope of this joke), but still wants to be a good host. "Well, may I at least offer you some wine, then?" The Jew replies that we drink kosher wine. Now then non-Jew cannot contain himself, "So if there was only non-kosher food and wine available, ...

The discussion started with, "If one of the hostages in the tunnels found some water, could he use that to make kiddush?" The answer to that question is a definitive "No." You just can't make kiddush on water (Shulchan Aruch 272:9). The Mishna Brura refers us to 296:2, sk 10, and notes that you also may not use water for havdala, and that is true even if the primary beverage in your country is water; it is just not considered prestigious enough to use for kiddush. Even crazy expensive—apparently there are "extreme luxury" waters that go for more than 10k$ for a rivi'is—still can't use it to make kiddush. Okay... but all this got me thinking... what exactly are the rules regarding eating non-kosher food when one is in danger of dying without eating that food? When I started, I was pretty sure that one would not make kiddush using non-kosher wine. Using non-kosher wine or food just didn't seem appropriate for kiddush. I also wondered what bra...

When relating the story of Eliezer, the servant of Avraham, seeking a proper shidduch for Yitzchak, the Torah repeats the story four times: Eliezer tells us what he wants to happen, then the events unfold, then Eliezer tells Rivka's family what he wanted to happen, and then Eliezer tells Rivka's family what actually transpired (with some minor but quite significant modifications). On that, Rashi comments (B'reishis 24:42): Rabbi Acha said: The ordinary conversation of the servants of the Patriarchs is more beloved before the Omnipresent than the Torah of their sons, for the section dealing with Eliezer is repeated in the Torah, whereas many fundamentals of the Torah were given only through allusions. An example of one of those allusions is in this week's parasha, כי תשא. We have two full parashas and the beginning of a third that give all the details regarding construction of the mishkan, all its vessels, the vestments of the kohanim while working there, and the incense...

Maybe you have already heard... I find myself having particular difficulty not repeating myself. 30 years cancer free, ביום הזה ממש/on this very day. This very day, Purim, 30 years ago, the doctor called me at 4:00-ish PM to tell me that I was cured of cancer. Every year since then I have made my first s'udah on Purim in the morning (which the Rema says is just fine, 695:2, smart guy), and it doubles as a סעודת הודיה/meal to give thanks to the Creator. Oh, you'd like the back story? In Oct/Nov of 1996, I visited the doctor because I had bronchitis. We only had one car at the time, and my daughter was also under the weather, so I went to our family practitioner to make things easier. She, the doctor, diagnosed me with bronchitis—which I routinely got that time of year in Chicago—and prescribed a course of antibiotics. Usually that did the trick, but this time the illness hung on. Before going back to that doctor, I mentioned to a chaver of mine that I was seeing a woman doctor, ...