Michael el Chayil

Every holiday has it unique obligations and a corresponding "personality" that reflect a deeper truth being exercised and brought the forefront of our attention. Pesach has matzah and the seder. Sukkos has, well, the sukkah. Chanuka has the menorah and dreidel. Purim has the megillah, s'uda, and getting so drunk that you can't tell the difference between blessed is Mordechai and cursed is Haman. Rosh HaShannah has shofar and ... what did you say? You want to go back to "getting so drunk..."? Sure. Of course I didn't need that dramatic opening. We all know that the requirement to get drunk on Purim stands out as an extraordinarily strange obligation. Before addressing the drinking issue itself, though, we need to clarify what Chazal want us to achieve. First let's try it at face value: you are taking a walk in your neighborhood and see Hitler -- may his memory and legacy be erased forever -- on one side of the street and are overwhelmed by revulsion a...

At the conclusion of every Shabbos, during the havdala ceremony, we quote a statement from Megilas Esther (8:14): לַיְּהוּדִ֕ים הָֽיְתָ֥ה אוֹרָ֖ה וְשִׂמְחָ֑ה וְשָׂשׂ֖ן וִיקָֽר /The Jews had light and joy, gladness and honor! Chazal reveal to us what Esther and Mordechai meant to convey: אוֹרָ֖ה/light means Torah שִׂמְחָ֑ה /joy means Yom Tov שָׂשׂ֖ן/gladness means circumcision יקָֽר /honor mean t'fillin I heard a beautiful shiur by R' Noach Light of the East Boca Kehilla in Boca Raton (via TorahAnytime , natch). The S'fas Emes asks two questions on this verse and it's explanation. First: If that's what they meant, then why didn't they just say that? After all, Mordechai was a member of the Men of the Great Assembly and therefore technically he was Chazal. That's the first question of the S'fas Emes and it is certainly a strong question. None the less, I am guessing the interested reader already some thoughts about a reasonable explanation or two. The sec...

It was just a few short years ago (pre-pandemic, since last year has been anything but short), we were spending a Shabbos with our grandchildren and their parents in Florida. Friday night and we are all at the table. Finished with Kiddush and Motzi, then the younger children get dessert and up to bed. Perfect. One glitch -- the nine year old boy (oldest of younger children) is back downstairs? "Someone," he says eyeing his older brother, "didn't turn the light off in our room." Of course, at this point it doesn't really matter how/who/when/why the light was turned on. On the other hand, this is also not the time for a mussar shmuz on that particular topic. What to do? In that case, the light was part of a ceiling fan and the fan was off. I was therefore able to drape a blanket over the fan blades far enough from the bulbs to avoid a fire hazard, but close enough to darken the room sufficiently for the two boys to sleep. But nowadays we have -- tada -- LED li...

Here's the sitch, as they say: Two people have a yarhtzeit for a parent and want to daven from the amud. No problem, just make two minyanim; happens all the time. Of course you need the resources to do that. Again, no problem. We have 20. 10 stay in the main beis medrash and start davening ma'ariv. 10 join together in a side room. Just before ברכו, one -- we'll call him Yaakov -- says, "Oh, I only daven after nightfall, but I'll stay and learn so y'all can still daven." Whoops. Short background/introduction before continuing the narrative: As both the Mishna Brura and R' Moshe pasken, unless you have 10 actually davening, it's not called תפילה בציבור (see Igros Moshe, Orach Chaim I:28 for detailed explanation). Having 10 adult Jewish men in the room, a majority of whom are davening (some say you need seven, aka "recognizable majority") allows one to say דברים שבקדושה, such as קדיש and ברכו ... and even קדושה, but it still doesn't have...

We recently acquired a new oven -- combination of stimulus check and spending much less money on travel this year. It is a double oven, so we now have a milchig and fleishig oven. Interestingly, when we went to Abt to look for ovens and noted that we were only interested in ovens with Shabbos mode, their search page has a check box specifically for that feature. We've had the oven for a few months and it is quite nice. One of my jobs on Friday afternoon is to set the oven before leaving for Shul. I set the top oven at 170 degrees to keep our challos warm and set the cook time to turn off the oven a few minutes after צאת הכוכבים/halachic nightfall. I set the bottom oven -- with soup/main/kugel/veggies/etc -- to 215 degrees to keep everything piping hot for the meal, and the cook time to turn off 10 minutes after the top oven. That gives me time to say קריאת שמע, then pull the challos from the (now off) top oven with plenty of time to welcome the Shabbos, say kiddush and motzi -- and...

We prepare for davening each morning by reciting the several chapters from T'hillim; Dovid HaMelech's opus to express all possible feelings in any situation. On Shabbos, when we have more time, we recite a few more, but everyday we finish with the last six chapters. And we end with a redoubled recitation of the last verse, the crescendo of the entire Book of T'hilim: כֹּל הַנְּשָׁמָה, תְּהַלֵּל יָהּ, הַלְלוּ-יָהּ Let every soul praise HaShem; Praise Ye, the L-ord! Inspiring, no? How about this? The medrash understands this statement of Dovid HaMelech to have a deeper undercurrent: Don't read נשמה/soul, rather נשימה/breath -- with every נשימה and נשימה praise HaShem! Even more inspiring, no? The Vilna Gaon (brought in the introduction to his commentary on Mishlei) says that you cannot really understand the depth of the secrets of Torah without clearing understanding פשט/the simple, surface meaning. Ok, what is the simple meaning of breathing? I say an article from the Ne...

Here are two halachic issues about which you may or may not care: If one intends to put on Rashi t'fillin and after he made the bracha realizes that he accidentally put on Rabeinu Tam t'fillin, then he should just remove them an put on his Rashi t'fillin without making a new bracha. If one accidentally says ותן טל ומטר לברכה instead of ותן ברכה at the wrong time of year on Shabbos, when he shouldn't be saying either and then corrects his שבת שמונה עשרה by adding adding the appropriate Shabbos insertion, then one need not repeat שמונה עשרה. Perhaps you would like a skosh more explanation of #2. In fact, perhaps you are wondering what's the חידוש of #1. Perfectly reasonable thoughts, which we shall address one at at time, in order, בעזרת השם. The interesting factor in #1 is that we pasken that Rabeinu Tam t'fillin are pasul. Certainly if one made a bracha and then put on t'fillin that were, in fact, devoid of any parchments, one would certainly need to make a ...

R' Fuerst is presenting a series of shiurim on medical/hospital issues that can arise on Shabbos. Not : "Hmm... well I guess if that ever happens, I'll just call my rav for instructions" kinds of issues, but: "Oh no, oh no, oh no... what do I do now?!" kinds of issues. These shiurim can be found both on TorahAnytime and psak.org . The shiurim are packed with practical answers to many common halachic questions regarding medical issues -- such as taking medicine, when/how to go to the hospital, and conduct in the hospital -- that arise on Shabbos. The learning of these halachos should be a merit to never need to apply them in practice. Spending a Shabbos in the hospital is never great (unless, perhaps, you are mother of n+1 children, and this is your chance to gather your strength before returning home; ha'meivin yavein). Many of the questions that arise are unique to Shabbos -- using a call button, having food prepared, helping/participating in having yo...

An expression that I eschew with extreme prejudice is: "I will never forget <some seemingly important event>" The reason I recoil from this expression is, of course: I haven't the slightest idea what I may or may not forget. Goodness! I have forgotten so many things that at the time seemed so unforgettable. That being said, when the "something" causes a change in how one conducts his life, then that "something" certainly can be said to be unforgettable. Even if one were to lose the ability to recall the details -- or even the occurrence -- of the original event; the change is engendered in one's journey through this world and trajectory through the next. Nonetheless, such an event is intrinsically unforgettable. I herein relay two (which will become three) such experiences where the rosh yeshiva, R' Chaim Dov Keller, זכר צדיק לברכה, changed the trajectory of my life. Every event in life is actually a mussar lesson. For a couple of years...

I learn mishnayos every day and try to do a seder or two each year. Having Kehati on my phone (Android; you iPhone users will have to find your own apps) makes it easy to learn several mishnayos a day during the many otherwise wasted minutes of standing around waiting during the day. I am now just finishing the mishnayos of Pesachim. Now, you might think that I'd just switch to Sukkos because it was, after all, Sukkos and I am, after all, learning seder Mo'ed. Nope, I like to go in order and keep my learning seder tidy. Moreover, there is the famous g'zeira shava of ט''ו ט''ו. That is, Pesach and Succos are the only two holidays that start on the 15th of the month, and many halachos are learned one from the other because of that. So there. In a recent Thought for the Day: Shmini Atzeres -- Serving HaShem Without Props , I noted that Shmini Atzeres is a Yom Tov that by design and intent has no mitzvos unique to it. More than that, the month after our High Ho...

I get a daily halacha email from the Dirshu organization; great way to get a tour or Mishna Brura. Occasionally they will also include a very nice "vort" about the auspicious occasion in which we find ourselves and proffer a new perspective. For example, they recently discussed a point about the holiday of Shmini Atzeres. As is well known, Chazal understand Shmini Atzeres as our Father who is our King saying to us, "I find separation from you very difficult, please stay one more day." Very nice... but if that's the whole issue, then why not make Sukkos a day longer? Moreover... um... we aren't really going anywhere, right? So why do we need a whole new Yom Tov -- with it's own kiddush, sh'he'chiyanu, musaf, etc. Just make Sukkos one day longer and the situation will have been addressed. Right? Obviously this Chazal is meant to convey something quite profound about Shmini Atzeres. The short answer is that we have had six weeks of focu...

I have read enough science fiction and seen enough horror films to have been really worried in recent days about an alien invasion. Anyone who has seen Westworld or Invasion of the Body Snatchers knows very well that an alien invasion can start with creatures who look very human, but they always have one give-away "tell". In this case, I have noticed quite a few very human looking creatures... but to the observant, paranoid, science nerd they made one glaring mistake in their charade: Everyone knows that human breathe through the nose and mouth. These creatures largely breathe through their chins, many have noses that are nothing more than clever camouflage. Some even breathe through their elbows! My evidence? Their mask usage. Then I thought their might be another explanation. They -- the "veldt" -- has what they call the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. So inspirational! Our sages said something similar -- That which is hateful to yo...

The laws of physics (classical, anyway) are expressed mathematically as second order differential equations. Besides that cool fact, here is another: If you would know all the laws of physics and two more bits of information, then you could (in principle) deduce the entire trajectory/history/travels of an object. Those two bits of information are either: The position and trajectory of the object at the beginning of it's travels (aka Cauchy or initial conditions). The position at both the beginning and end of the trajectory of the object (aka Dirichlet or boundary conditions). (Sigh... the physicist in me needs to qualify that any point(s) along the trajectory will do, because the laws of physics are time reversal and translation invariant. I would note sources for the interested reader, but I am quite confident that the only interested reader at this point is yours truly.) None of that, of course, has anything to do with Sefer Tehilim. The idea, though, is quite relevant to Dovid ...

Two scenarios: Scenario I: A young boy awakened in the middle of the night, placed in the back of vehicle, told not to make any noise, and the vehicle speeds off down the highway. Scenario II: Young boy playing in park goes to see firetruck, turns around to see scary man in angry pursuit, poised to attack. I experienced and lived through both of those scenarios. Terrifying, no? Actually, no; and my picture was never on a milk carton. Here's the context: Scenario I: We addressed both set of our grandparents as "grandma" and "grandpa". How did we distinguish? One set lived less than a half hour's drive; those were there "close grandma and grandpa". The other set lived five hour drive away; they were the "way far away grandma and grandpa". To make the trip the most pleasant for all of us, Dad would wake up my brother and I at 4:00AM, we'd groggily -- but with excitement! -- wander out and down to the garage where we'd crawl ...

I saw interviews a couple of weeks ago with college students on spring break in Florida -- "I've planned this for months; a little virus isn't going to stop me!" Uh-huh. Worse though, I still see people being lax about social distancing and hygiene. I also hear unfortunate comparisons to the flu, "Ok, even if I get it, it's not usually fatal. It'll be a week of being sick; nu?" What does COVID-19 do to a body? So, there are these little cells in the pipes and tubes that bring air into the lungs. These little cells have hair like structures whose job is to sweep the grit mixed in the air out of the lungs. COVID-19 kills those cells, so the lung is left unprotected. Now do you see the problem? No? You still think, "Ok, I'll cough more and probably be sore. But aren't you overreacting?" Hmm... ok, it's like this: Imagine a garbage pickup strike in New York. All those people dumping all that garbage and it's not going any...

Here is my hope and expectation: When I stand in front of the the Creator of the World for my final judgment, I will be roundly chided: "Michael, Michael, Michael... don't you think you were overreacting a bit -- let's be honest, way more than a bit, like over the top -- to the COVID-19 outbreak in 5780?" I am pray for that embarrassment, because I know with certainty that I don't want to be held responsible for even one murder. Let's put this in perspective. On Monday, March 16, 2020 CE, there were 100,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 outside of China (which seems to have finally leveled off). On Tuesday there were 116,000; an increase of 16,000; taking the conservative mortality rate of 1%, that means 160 deaths. Not much out of a population of 3 billion. On Wednesday, there were 18,000 more case; 180 more deaths. Thursday, 28,000 more; 280 more deaths. Friday, 30,000 more; another 300 deaths. Saturday, up 32,000; another 320 deaths. These numbers are most ...

The reaction I got to my TftD: Psak Halacha Regarding Protection that Beats Firearms was much, much different than what I expected. By way introduction to my surprise, allow me to relate a story regarding my father, Yaakov ben Yosef, alav ha'shalom whose yahrtzeit is approaching; 13th Adar (he was niftar a month before Purim, but in a straight year like this one, it is Ta'anis Esther). Several years ago, approximately 13 years before my father's p'tira, I received a distressing phone call: my father had suffered a major heart attack and was just now being air lifted to the closest cardiac intensive care unit. In fact, the heart attack had started the night before, but because of misdiagnosis and generally incompetent medical staff at the small hospital near his home, he had been left suffering all night being treated for indigestion! Baruch HaShem, I was able to get there right away and again three weeks later when he had his triple bypass surgery. Baruch HaShem, the...

I once mentioned to my family that I found it interesting that many of my closest friends are people to whom I rarely speak. I was referring, of course, to those with whom I daven at the Chicago Vasikin Minyan. My children -- in all their wide-eyed innocence and purity of spirit -- replied, "Abba, it is probably because you don't speak to them that they are your friends." Ok.... now I have your attention. I had heard in the name of R' Fuerst that it is incumbent on every shul to have someone carrying a weapon on Shabbos. I read in the pamphlet put out by the Beis Hora'ah that the p'sak of R' Fuerst is that it is forbidden to carry a weapon outside on Shabbos. (In a place where there is no eiruv, such as Peterson Park in Chicago.) I decided to ask the rabbi in person to get the straight story. The following is my transcription of the dialog; quoted without comment. Please also note that in this case, the indicated emphasis was the way R' Fuerst said ...

As I was reading through the verses of the rebuke at the end of parshas Ki Savo, I was struck by the irony of that after we hear this very disturbing rebuke -- with all it's gory details -- on Shabbos morning, we will then be treated to the sixth of the seven haftaros of consolation/condolence. Shouldn't someone have realized this could happen and planned for it? Oh... wait because of the way Chazal set up the Torah readings and haftaros, this will always  happen. That means that... this is supposed to happen?! Why? Hmm... upon further reflection, perhaps I do see the logic. Let me 'splain. Imagine a man in his late 30s; 38-ish, just for argument's sake. He's married, has three children (g 12, g 10, b 5), progressing nicely in his career as a software engineer at a major technical company; Motorola (before the internet happened...), for argument's sake. He has bronchitis, that just keeps hanging on. On third exam in as many weeks, the doctor decides to sta...

I once saw one car make a left hand turn right in front of an oncoming car going straight through the intersection. (I was waiting to make a right turn at said intersection.) It was clear from my vantage point that the turner absolutely did not see the oncomer; not before his turn, nor even during his turn, and obviously not after. The oncomer, on the other hand, was (Thank Goodness) all too aware of the turner; it was only the quick reflexes of the oncomer that rendered the turners actions only annoying. I also so how angry the guiltless oncomer became... red in the face, pounding his steering wheel, and obviously screaming in rage. (No one can hear you scream in space nor behind closed windows of a car speeding now the street.) I try to remember how ludicrous and pointless that rage was whenever I feel myself getting angry. I have mixed success with that. However, I recently heard a shiur that gave me a new tool in my arsenal to avoid anger. The kohanim have a mitzvah to bless Kl...