Hebrew | Francais

Shabbat Parashat R'ei 5774

R'ei | 27 Av 5774 | 23/08/2014

Parashat Hashavua: To Learn to Fear

In discussing the mitzva of bringing ma’aser sheni to Yerushalayim, the Torah writes “… in order that you should learn to fear” (Devarim 14:23). What is this learning, which results not in knowledge but in the emotion of fear? Also, what is the need to learn in such a manner, considering that at least mature Torah observers ostensibly already fear Hashem?

Ask the Rabbi: Going to the Courts Where There Is No Beit Din

I am a lawyer in a country with a small Jewish population, in which when we need a din Torah, we fly someone in from another country. A Jew who is suing another Jew asked me to represent him, and the dispute is on a modest amount of money, which is less than the cost of bringing a beit din. May we sue in non-Jewish courts?

Ein Ayah: Developing Awareness toward Gratitude

One who gives a present to his friend should inform him, as the pasuk says: “… my Sabbaths you shall guard, for it is a sign … to know that I am Hashem who sanctifies you” (Shemot 31:13).

P'ninat Mishpat: Disqualifying a Shochet

I received your inquiry about the accomplished shochet R. Avraham, who was trained in Parmishla, and now some of the people of your town want to disqualify him because he certified as kosher an animal with a certain question of tereifa. [We will not get into the animal’s specific questionable blemish.] I have been told by all the shochtim of Parmishla that there was a minhag started by the brilliant Rabbi Shmuel Zeinviel Heller, head of Parmishla’s rabbinical court, to rely on the lenient opinion of the K’reiti U’pleiti on this matter. When I came to Parmishla, I did not agree with that ruling, as I wrote in Beit Yitzchak, Yoreh Deah I:69, but I did not protest against the practice. I always tried to find a way to be lenient on the matter by finding alleviating factors [again, we skip the technical details]. It is not clear whether in the case R. Avraham was involved in, there were not additional doubts in the direction of leniency. If there were, then his certification was proper.

Hemdat Yamim

is dedicated

to the memory of:

Mr. Max Prager who passed away

21 Av, 5774

The kidnapped boys o.b.m.

Yaakov Naftali Frenkel

Gil-Ad Michael Shaer

and Eyal Yifrach

And for all those that

fell in the war for our homeland.

R' Meir
ben

Yechezkel Shraga Brachfeld

o.b.m

Rabbi Yosef Mordechai Simcha

ben Bina Stern o.b.m

who passed away

21 Adar I, 5774

R' Yaakov ben Abraham & Aisha

and

Chana bat Yaish & Simcha

Sebbag, z"l

R' Yitzchak Eizik

ben Yehuda Leib Usdan a"h,

whose Yahrtzeit

is the 29th of Av

R' Shmuel Shemesh z"l

Eretz Hemdah's

Board Member

who passed away

18 Sivan, 5774

Gital Gila Bat Eliyahu Michael a”h

on the occasion

of her yahrzeit , Av 21^st

Hemdat Yamim

is endowed by

Les & Ethel Sutker

of Chicago, Illinois
in loving memory of
Max and Mary Sutker
and

Louis and Lillian Klein, z”l

A weekly divrei Torah leaflet: A Glimpse at the Parasha, Ask the Rabbi, From the writings of Harav Avraham Yitzchak Hakohen Kook, zt”l, Pninat Mishpat (Jewish Monetary Law).