Michael el Chayil

Suppose I asked you if you believed in atoms.  You would probably look at me like I was from another planet and wonder what I was up to.  (Fair enough... I'm usually up to something when I ask a question like that.)  Still, you would likely play along and answer in the affirmative.  What if I then asked you for evidence you have for that belief, being as neither you nor anyone else has ever or will ever actually see an atom?  ("Aha!", you think, "I knew he was up to no good!") Now suppose I were to ask you if you believe that stealing is morally wrong.  Same eye rolling on your part, again deciding to play along and answer in the affirmative.  This time when I ask you for your evidence, however, your answer is, "I don't need evidence; it is logical that taking something that belongs to someone else is morally wrong." Now we can begin. There is a strange discussion in the gemara (Brachos 35a) (my free translation): Fact 1: It is forbidden to...

I was in a play in 9th grade.  An in-class play, but I had a big role.  During one of the rehearsals I was holding a pencil during one of the more dramatic speeches and the teacher noted that my performance was much improved.  After discussion, it seemed that holding the pencil helped to give my hands something important to do and so kept me more focussed.  (Yes, I know that "focussed" is technically the British spelling, not American; it looks better to me, so deal.)  Her words made an impression and I started applying that principle wherever I could.  Now you know why I hold a pencil when I learn. I am on a mission to finish learning the entire Mishna Brura; all six volumes.  I was actually on track to finish for my 55th birthday, but that plan was derailed when a set of Dirshu Mishna Brura appeared mysteriously at my doorstep one day.  (Technically, the appearance wasn't so mysterious -- delivered by UPS in a plain brown box; but I hadn't ord...

We just commemorated the yahrtzeit of my father-in-law, Aaron Dovid ben Yitchak, a"h.  I was able, Baruch HaShem, to organize a siyum on all of Sh'as Mishnayos.  Being as we are the black sheep/hats of the family, this turned out to have several challenges.  I am sharing my experience because I believe it could be beneficial to others.  I am not, after all, the only Orthodox Jew who has non-frum family.  Moreover, even though both positive and negative experiences are useful to share (positive to encourage certain behaviors, negative to save others from repeating the same mistakes), this actually went very well, so it is more fun to share. The first decision was to make the siyum on the yahrtzeit and not  on the shloshim (30 day) anniversary.  My in-laws had no frum friends, so putting out a sign up sheet during shiva was an option.  That left me asking friends to help.  Everyone I know already has busy learning schedule and is also working...

Repeat after me: The gemara is not a shulchan aruch, the gemara is not a shulchan aruch, the gemara is not a shulchan aruch, the ... On the other hand, all halacha is ultimately decided by and must trace its roots to those very discussions transmitted to us by our sages through the millennia.  So how does one go from תנו רבנן to פסק הלכה? Obviously, it ain't that easy, but there are rules that give guidelines.  I know a few, and I just saw a new really cool one in a תוספות (Brachos 34a, d'h the middle ones have no order).  Just so we are clear, I am quite aware that anyone who uses the word "cool" is not.  Moreover, anyone who uses the word cool to refer to a תוספות never was.  I'm such a rebel. One guideline is that we generally rule like a סתם mishna; that is, an unattributed mishna.  An unattributed mishna basically represents a consensus.  Generally also a mishna beats a bareisa.  (The b'reisos are not less authori...

Ok... before we go any further, we need to be absolutely clear about one thing: "Ox" is not a species of animal any more than "computer programmer" is a species of human.  Any bovine that is used as a draft (draught for us snobs) animal -- ie, to do work around and for the farm -- is an ox.  Sometimes they also take freshman physics, as I remember from my teaching days.  Whew... I feel much better. We recognize two seasons in our prayer -- rainy and not rainy.  Our prayers, of course, change with the season in two places: the second bracha (גבורה) because rain goes with תחית המתים/resurrection, and the ninth bracha (ברך עלינו) because rain goes with livelihood.  We (human beings) are creatures of habit, which has benefits and drawbacks.  A benefit for prayer is that our prayers become more fluent with repetition; a drawback is that we could stop thinking and start just reciting.  Because of that, Chazal decreed a 30 day window during which one needs ...

Since I have Google available from my phone, I decided to research how the biblical dimensions for Noah's ark, 300 cubits by 50 cubits by 30 cubits compared to a modern aircraft carrier.  The results are pretty cool. The dimensions at water level of a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier (the pride of the United Stated Navy; aka nuclear supercarrier ) is 333 m long by 40.1 m wide.  In other words, roughly the same shape as Noah's ark, but dimensions in meters instead of cubits.  Since a cubit is roughly half a meter, that means that Noah's ark is approximately 1/4 the size of our nuclear supercarriers.  Cool, eh?  There's more.  The ark had a draft (depth of hull below water level) of 11 cubits (see Rashi on Genesis 8:4), and the Nimitz-class supercarrier has a draft of 11.7 meters.  Given all that, it seems reasonable to look at the crew facilities to get an idea of how much life the ark, in a completely natural setting, could support. The ark had three...

On the first night of Yom Tov, I heard a shiur on the topic of rejoicing on our festivals.  Apparently when the Gr"a was asked which mitzvah he found to be more difficult, his answer was the mitzvah of ושמחת בחגך/rejoice on your holiday.  Hard enough to feel joy on command, but for seven days and nights is quite a tall order.  I had a particularly difficult challenge in feeling joy 24/9 this year when my world was rocked with the פטירה of Rev. Aharon Nosson Cohen; whom I never called anything but Zaida, even from the very first time I met him at the Chicago Vasikin minyan.  I found comfort and even joy in that pain. For several years (but not nearly enough for me), we would walk home and share a s'uda together on Shabbos mornings.  He would tell me, week in and week out, "I have the best wife."  I tried a few times to say, "You mean the best for your, right?"  He would smile (he had a beautiful smile) and say yes, but his smile and tone of ...

I am quite certain that I never bought a copy of " The Age of Reason ", by Thomas Paine.  Nonetheless, I found a copy in the house.  I suspect that I inherited it along jumble of other books I was sent when a spinster cousin (who had been a librarian and a bit of an intellectual) passed away.  I was the closest anyone in my family had to being an intellectual, so I got sent all of her off beat books.  I recently (having run out of other bathroom reading) decided to give it a whirl.  It's actually quite a good read. It is with good reason that the Constitution of the United States guarantees freedom of religion.  Many of the more prominent founding fathers were not Christian, but were more along the lines that I would classify as Unitarian, but is also called deism and theistic rationalism... blah, blah, blah... meaning to say that they believed in a G-d who created the world, and who could certainly communicate with said world if He so chose, but that we ...

The issue of carrying outside a private domain on Yom Tov is different than on Shabbos.  The issue on Shabbos is, of course, that the Torah forbids transporting an item both more than four cubits (six feet; give or take) in a public domain and also across the boundary of public and private domains.  (NB: The terms "public" and "private" here vis-à-vis Shabbos and Yom Tov refer to occupancy and size, not to ownership.)  Chazal extended that restriction on Shabbos to include domains that are neither private nor public, private domains that look like public domains, and from one private domain to another.  Chazal also, as is well known, mandated a procedure -- know affectionately as שיתופי מבואות and עירוב חצירות, or just עירוב, for short -- that would if properly constructed and within the prescribed guidelines of populace and whatnot  permit such transportation. On Yom Tov, however, the Torah permits a variety of crafts/labors on Yom Tov under the rub...

The first night of Sukkos was a few nights ago.  As it turns out, a total eclipse of the moon was also visible from Chicago that night; becoming total at 9:47PM.  I mentioned that to someone walking home from shul and added, "It's a beautiful night to observe the eclipse!"  He answered me, with some disdain, "It is a beautiful night to be in the sukkah."  He apparently felt I had too much enthusiasm for this astronomical event and not enough for the sanctity of evening.  I accepted the mussar, but I had very spiritual reasons for being excited about a lunar eclipse... especially  on Sukkos. Before we get to the spirituality, it is worth taking just a few moments to appreciate the event.  The earth is 93,000,000 miles from the sun.  To get a lunar eclipse, you need the earth to come between the sun and the moon.  If you think about that, you'll realize that a lunar eclipse will only occur when the moon and sun are on opposite sides of the ea...

Last night I wired up a water-proof fluorescent light fixture for our Sukkah.  I knew what to do because my grandfather (he should rest in peace) taught me how to wire things up.  Getting a degree in physics didn't help me with wiring the fixture.  (In fact, ask me sometime about the time I tried to install a dimmer in a friend's dorm room based on my vast knowledge -- I was a junior in college at the time -- of physics.  Let's just say it sparked quite a round of well deserved jeering, including my name and description of my spectacular failure being enshrined around the door frame.) With יום כיפור bearing down in less than a year (orginally, I had written "in just a few hours"; but stuff happened), I am focussing on very practical application of the general principles of change that Chazal have taught us.   R' Yisrael Salanter  said that it is easier to learn ש''ס (the entire Talmud) than to change on character trait.  I reason that chang...

In the Holy Tongue there is a critical difference between a king and a ruler.  Both have absolute control  over their populace; up to and including the right and power to decide life and death.  The difference is that a king rules by mandate of his nation.  On ראש השנה we make השם King.  That is accomplished by our declaration in the mussaf service of His Sovereignty -- using verses from Torah, Prophets, and Writings explicitly describing His Sovereignty, recalling the Beneficence of His Sovereignty, and our announcing His Sovereignty via shofar blast -- topped off with actual shofar blasts.  Very powerful and moving. So powerful and moving, that it is easy to miss that in the middle of the whole ceremony -- the last verse that is supposed to be describing His Sovereignty, in fact -- is: שמע ישראל, השם אלוקינו, השם אחד/Harken, Yisrael; HaShem is Our G-d, HaShem is One! A lovely sentiment, of course, but what does it hav...

One of my favorite poems (ok... I've only read about four poems -- excluding Nursery Rhymes -- in my life, but saying it this way gives me the appearance of well read) is  The Deacon's Masterpiece (aka, The Deacon's One Hoss Shay).  The Deacon, you see, was irritated with things breaking.  He reasoned that when something broke, it meant the manufacturer had been lazy/cheap about the component that was responsible; that is, a piece had been included that was of less quality than the rest of the components of the contraption.  He therefore set out to build a one hoss shay that did not suffer from that malady; there was no weakest link.  I urge you to read the poem, but the bottom line is that the driver of the shay found himself one day sitting on just a mound of dust -- every component had failed at precisely the same time.  So the poem ends: End of the wonderful one-hoss shay. Logic is logic. That's all I say. Still brings tears to my eyes. Whenever ...

I started listening to shiurim by R' Aharon Lopiansky on the the Maharal's נר מצוה; his treatise on Chanuka.  Why Chanuka, you ask?  Because of those available shiurim, those were on the next holiday.  My choices in shiurim are not entirely random, there is some associated pragmatism.  I also thought, "Heck... with Rosh HaShanah approaching, I could using something light."  (Get it?  "light" as in "not deep" and "light" as in festival of lights?  I crack me up.)  R' Lopiansky begins by noting that the Maharal sees Chanuka as part of the chain of four weaknesses designed into the the fabric of reality by the Creator, the rectification of which is part of Klal Yisrael's job in this world and our reason for existing.  So much for light. The Maharal begins by quoting a prophecy (couched as a vision from a dream) by Daniel; a vision of four beasts that represent the four kingdoms -- Babylonia, Persia, Greece, and Rome -- which have b...

I once visited the Grand Canyon; which I found to be a truly awe inspiring experience.  An experience so overwhelming, in fact, that I found even saying the bracha of "עושה מעשה בראשית" (Who does the work of creation) was too much for me while looking directly at this wonder of nature.   I tried saying the brach -- with the siddur open in front of me -- and could only barely stammer out some words.  I found that I had to look directly at each word and concentrate fully on just saying it correctly; that got me through.  Apparently I wasn't the only one who found the experience so awe inspiring, a young man dressed and looking like any other tourist (as opposed to me, in my standard white shirt and black pants) walked over to me to ask what was the appropriate bracha! When first looking at the canyon, I couldn't really wrap my mind around the fact that it was real.  I had seen canyons before, of course, but this didn't fit even my wildest extrapolation from earl...

Anyone who has taught physics will have heard this line: "I understand the physics, I just can't do the problems."  Pretty much anyone who has taken  a physics class will have said that, as well.  The answer is always the same: If you can't do the problems, you don't understand the material.  Why is that?  In fact, why would someone even think such a statement makes sense in the first place?  No one would think that they could learn to play tennis by just reading about how to do it.  Obviously, one must actually play tennis at some point.  Of course, you will answer, playing tennis is a purely physical activity, whereas physics is a purely mental activity.  That is not quite true, though.  Even after learning how to tennis, one must learn techniques and strategies that must be practiced before they become part of one's game.  So the question is even stronger -- from the purely cerebral to the purely physical, both body and mind must...

When Newton first proposed his laws of mechanics, he was ridiculed.  The basis of the ridicule was a simple question: How could physical objects know to follow a rule?  That question, and therefore the push-back against Newtonian mechanics, doesn't make any sense to us.  To understand the objection, we need to really understand the pre-Enlightenment mindset; a mindset really architected by Aristotle.  Aristotle's view of matter and motion was that all physical objects had a preferred place in the universe; move them from that place, and they seek to return.  They could get back lots of ways, it might take a while or go quickly, or they might just hang out a while in discomfort.  (I think whimsically think that Aristotle would have said that all objects in the world are basically νεαρός; teenagers, for those of you who don't read Greek.)  Newton changed the entire world view by proposing and then demonstrating that the physical world actually opera...

I got a text from my son-in-law one day asking what I had possibly said to my granddaughter that had her asking about the balloons in her body.  (Note: my kids had no doubt that anything crazy their children said like that could surely be traced to their grandfather.)  I told him that we had been discussing the circulatory system and I had explained lungs to her as a type of balloon.  (Yes; I know the lungs are part of the respiratory system, but she was only five and I didn't want to confuse the issue.)  A few weeks later they sent me a picture of a stick figure my little budding physician had drawn of her (then pregnant) mother; complete with two sets of balloon lungs, one for her and one for the fetus. I have been listening to a series of shiurim on "Intro to Judaism", by R' Aharon Lopiansky, that (judging from the content) he gave to not-frum-but-definitely-interested-and-receptive college aged boys.  One reason I am listening to them is to learn better ...

Here are two very bad ideas: If you are working in the mail room of a large, multinational corporation and you need a pad of paper and pencil, just march up to the CEOs office, tell his secretary that you have an appointment, walk in to his office, ask him to wait just a moment while you check your email and Facebook, then say hastily and with obvious impatience, "Wow.  You run this operation that you single-handedly created and architected really, really well.  I really need a pencil and pad of paper and you are ultimately in charge of all office supplies.  Thank you very much for always being there for all of us."  Back out while checking your email again. If you are ever, rachmana latzlan, standing in front of a judge for sentencing after having been convicted of several heinous crimes, just say, "Judge Bob, you are good friends with both my dad and grandfather, who have always been law-abiding citizens and helped you out in your re-election campaigns several t...

For years I have come home from davening/learning in the morning, change into my biking clothes, pack my lunch, have a quick bite to eat with my wife, then off to work.  Since the last couple of months, the routine has an addition: get breakfast for the grandchildren; it's one of the favorite parts of my day, Baruch HaShem.  Part of the routine goes like this: Grandchild(heretofore known as gc): May I have a waffle please? Me: sure, just let me finish .... Gc: May I have a waffle please? Me: sure, just let me finish .... Gc: May I have a waffle please? Me: sure, just let me finish getting cereal for gc1. Gc: May I have a waffle please? ... ... Gc: Thank you! Even better, they often all three (the baby is too young to chime in, yet) make their requests and request repeats all at the same time.  So I started wondering if that's how I sound.  Every day, three times a day, six days a week, I ask for the same things.  Moreover, HaShem knows what I want ...