Deiah veDibur - Information & Insight
  

A Window into the Chareidi World

20 Kislev 5762 - December 5, 2001 | Mordecai Plaut, director Published Weekly
NEWS
OPINION & COMMENT
OBSERVATIONS
HOME & FAMILY
IN-DEPTH FEATURES
VAAD HORABBONIM HAOLAMI LEINYONEI GIYUR
TOPICS IN THE NEWS
PREVIOUS ISSUES

CALENDAR FOR
Parshas Mikeitz, 5762

Sunday, 24 Kislev - Shabbos, 30 Kislev
(Dec. 9-15, 2001)

DAF HAYOMI
Bavli:
Bova Metzia, 17-23
Yerushalmi:
Kilayim, 29-35

MISHNA YOMIS
Bova Basra 4:5-5:9

HALACHA YOMIS
Orach Chaim 551:8-552:10

Rosh Chodesh Teves falls on Shabbos, Dec. 15, and Sunday, Dec. 16.

CANDLE LIGHTING
in Eretz Yisroel:

Parshas Vayeishev
Yerushalayim:
4:00 P.M.

Bnei Brak:
4:14 P.M.

London:
3:36 P.M.
Johannesburg:
6:15 P.M.
Melbourne:
8:14 P.M.

Parshas Mikeitz
Yerushalayim:
4:01 P.M.

Bnei Brak:
4:15 P.M.

London:
3:35 P.M.
Johannesburg:
6:15 P.M.
Melbourne:
8:20 P.M.

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Shema Yisrael Torah Network
Shema Yisrael Torah Network



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At The Center of the Universe
At The Center of the Universe
by Mordechai Plaut

TOPICS IN THE NEWS

REFORM & CONSERVATIVES

GRAVES

LIVING JUDAISM

WOMEN IN
JUDAISM

GIYUR
LEGAL ISSUES
YESHIVA DRAFT
CULTURE WARS
-MISCELLANEOUS
CULTURE WARS
-MONEY
CULTURE WARS
-SHABBOS
SHMITTA
OBITUARIES
FEATURES

NEWS


Israel Declares PA: "An Entity that Supports Terror"
by Yated Ne'eman Staff

The Israeli government voted to declare the Palestinian Authority "an entity that supports terror" at about 3 a.m. Tuesday morning, after a six-hour session beginning Monday night. Foreign Minister Shimon Peres led a walkout of Labor ministers in protest over the decision before the Cabinet vote.

Solution to Problem of Kohanim on Flights Imminent
by Betzalel Kahn

The problems of the flights for kohanim who take off from the Ben Gurion airport will soon be solved according to those involved in the negotiations. Rabbi Ravitz, Rabbi Gafni and Rabbi Porush recently conducted extensive deliberations with the Transportation Ministry and top raking IDF personnel on the issue.


Housing Market at a Crossroads: Is Now the Time to Buy?
by A. Yechiel

Last month the Rabinovich Committee released its recommendations for the property tax reform, effectively bringing the housing sales market to a halt. The committee recommended eliminating the purchase tax at the 0.5 percent level, eliminating the sales tax and reducing the capital gains tax.


Manof Demands Criminal Investigation of Cameri Theater For Incitement
by Betzalel Kahn

"The Cameri Tel Aviv Municipal Theater has turned into a weapon for incitement to murder as well as de-legitimization of Israel's chareidi and religious public," according to the leaders of the Manof Center for Jewish Information. This was stated in a complaint filed by Manof with the Israel Police, the Attorney General, the President of the State of Israel, the Prime Minister, members of Knesset and other public figures.

U.S. Shmittah Product Category List
by Yated Ne'eman Staff

According to information supplied by the kashrus division of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America (OU), the following categories of foods may contain products that were imported to the U.S. and sold under the OU hechsher based on an enhanced version of the heter mechirah.

Rain, Rain Be a Blessing
by Yated Ne'eman Staff

Heavy rains began on Tuesday morning in the north of the country and were expected to spread all over by the late afternoon. A total accumulation of 100 millimeters (about four inches) was expected within about two days.

Thousands Visit Final Resting Place of HaRav Shach, ztvk"l to Mark Sheloshim
by A. Cohen

On Sunday 17 Kislev, thousands of people visited the final resting place of the Avi Ezri, Rabbenu Maran HaGaon Elozor Menachem Man Shach, ztvk"l, to mark the closing of the thirty-day mourning period following Rabbenu's passing on the 16th of Marcheshvon.

South African Jews Mourn Passing Of HaRav Shach
by D. Saks

Hundreds of members of Johannesburg's Torah community, including many of the youth, crowded into the beis hamedrash of the Kollel Yad Shaul to hear hespedim for the godol hador, Maran HaRav Shach zt"l at the end of the sheloshim. Speakers included HaRav Tzvi Kushelevsky, Dayan Boruch Rapoport and the rosh kollel, HaRav Boruch Dov Grossnass. HaRav Kushelevsky, the rosh yeshiva of Heichal Hatorah in Jerusalem, was especially brought out for the occasion.

ZAKA at the Forefront
by Betzalel Kahn

This past motzei Shabbos after the awful bomb in the center of Yerushalayim's entertainment district, ZAKA's volunteers displayed maximal efficiency and competence as they went about their rescue work on the site of the terrorist attack on the Ben Yehuda mall in Jerusalem. One of their first steps was to set up a special tent, recently acquired by the organization, to record initial findings. Bodies were brought there and then transferred to the Abu Kabir Institute for Forensic Medicine in Tel Aviv.


OPINION & COMMENT

Extreme Jewish Fundamentalism

The Taliban are an extreme Sunni Muslim sect that has ruled Afghanistan for close to a decade but is now on the way out after running a rogue regime that sheltered Osama Bin Laden and his obsession with worldwide Jihad (holy war) against the West. They tried to implement a society that was forced into observing their somewhat unique version of what a proper Islamic society should be.


OBSERVATIONS


HOME & FAMILY

PREPARING FOR THE FUTURE
Teaching Versus Learning

by R' Zvi Zobin

Rabbi Reuven looked at the page again. He still could not understand what was printed there. Or course, he could understand the plain meaning of the words, but he could not understand what he was supposed to do.


IN-DEPTH FEATURES

Retirement in Israel: Is It For You?
by M. Samsonowitz


Additional Luach Information

Chanukah starts on Monday, 25 Kislev (Dec. 10) and ends on Monday, 2 Teves (Dec. 17). We must be on the alert in regards to fire safety and not light the neiros near inflammables. Small children should not be left alone near the neiros.

Chanukah Lighting Time According to the Chazon Ish

The Chazon Ish zt'l lit the Chanukah lights on weekdays twenty minutes after sunset. On Motzo'ei Shabbos, however, he lit them only after ma'ariv (which he davened approximately three quarters of an hour after sunset) and making havdoloh. [The report in Tohoras Habayis (part 2, p. 273) that the Chazon Ish lit Chanukah lights twenty minutes after sunset even on Motzo'ei Shabbos--from which the author deduces that melochos may be done this soon after sunset when there is a pressing necessity--is erroneous].

The source of the minhag of the Chazon Ish when to light Chanukah lights on weekdays is found in the Bei'ur HaGra in Yoreh De'ah, hilchos Milah chap. 266:17, who explicitly mentions Chanukah lights!

The Chazon Ish based his reasoning on the fact that there must be some darkness for Chanukah lighting, since "what good is a candle during the day?" In central Eretz Yisroel we light 20-21 minutes after sunset (depending when Chanukah falls according to the solar calendar). The sun is at that time 4.8 degrees below the horizon.

Using the sun's position below the horizon as our criterion, these are the amount of minutes after sunset to light Chanukah lights in selected cities worldwide according to the Chazon Ish: Zurich 27-28 minutes after sunset; Vienna 28- 29 minutes; Sydney 22 minutes; Strasbourg 28 minutes; Stockholm 43-44 minutes; Rome 24-25 minutes; Paris 28-29 minutes; New York 23-24 minutes; Gateshead 35 minutes; Melbourne 23-24 minutes; Manchester 33 minutes; Los Angeles 21-22 minutes; London 31 minutes; Johannesburg 20 minutes; Cleveland 24 minutes; Chicago 24-25 minutes; Buenos Aires 22- 23 minutes; Amsterdam 32 minutes.

See Birur Halocho Teliso'oh, Orach Chaim 772.


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