Dear Friend: Now that a number of weeks have passed since our Winter Torah Seminar, I want to tell you how wonderful and lasting an impression it made upon me. When I say "it" I mean all who participated, for it was you who made the Seminar the success it was. I particularly enjoyed spending the week with the "geza" group of which you were a member. I was happy, though not surprised, at your enthusiasm and interest in the Jewish studies sessions. However, as I indicated to you then, the intensive program we enjoyed together was not meant to substitute for a Jewish education. It was meant to stimulate a greater desire on your part to intensify your Jewish education. There are many ways that can be done. One of them is through attending a Jewish school. (We hope that some of you eventually will be able to attend either Yeshiva University or Stern College.) Another way is through private instruction. But there is also a third way which every mature and intelligent teenager should take advantage of: reading. As a follow-up to our nine Jewish studies sessions, I recommend the following books. They are all easy to read, interesting, reliable, and informative. You will enjoy them, and they will benefit you greatly. You may order them at the stated price by sending the money and order to Bloch Publishers, 31 West 31st Street, New York, New York.The Siddur and Prayer a) The Hertz Siddur – Prepared by the late Dr. Hertz, Chief Rabbi of the British Empire; contains the Hebrew prayers, translation, and an excellent running commentary. No Jewish home should be without this prayerbook! b) The World of Prayer – by Dr. Elie Munk of Paris. This is an excellent commentary on the daily prayers. It is especially good for those who can read some Hebrew. Price $3.75Chumash a) The Hertz Bible – A standard work, corresponding to the Hertz Siddur. Price $6 b) The Soncino Bible – While the Hertz culls from ancient and modern commentaries, this commentary offers only the interpretations of t…

My dear Friend, it is a real and genuine pleasure for me to say "Hello" and welcome you in the pages of this, the first Kodimoh Youth Bulletin. I want to say that I am proud of you and of your group leaders and teachers. And I think you should be proud of your synagogue, Kodimoh. During the past several months, we have really been happy to work not only for you, but with you. Together we have made a success of each of our projects – from Junior Cong. to Senior Cong., from our youngest Junior Oneg Shabbat group through the Yaar Ganim to the Bnei Mitzvah. Now, thank God, we have published our first Bulletin. Remember – it is your Bulletin, just like it's your group and your synagogue. Feel free to criticize it, and to write for it. Remember that this is your project, and whether it succeeds or fails depends upon you. Let me wish you lots of luck in this new venture. May God be with you as you become a proud, respected, and noble son or daughter of Kodimoh. Sincerely, Rabbi Norman Lamm.

The institution of Late Friday Services in American Synagogues, even in a number of otherwise strongly Orthodox ones, is a comparatively recent phenomenon. It is for that reason that, to my knowledge, the matter has not yet been analyzed with a view to testing its Halachic permissibility and, as a result, recommending either its acceptance, rejection or modification. Yet the introduction of this innovation into our own synagogues places upon us the responsibility, which we cannot escape, of developing just such a critique. This problem to which we address ourselves, like others of its kind on the contemporary scene, must be treated on two levels: the purely Halachic and the “trans-nalachic.” By the latter term I mean those matters which cut across technical lines, and are questions of policy that are primarily subjective value judgements in which we look at the picture in its totality, and take into consideration such elements of basic principle and public psychology as Pritzas Geder, Eis Laasois the comparative worth of Tefiloh Betzibor and שינוי מטבע שטבעו חכמים. While the purely Halachic issues require more scholarship, these trans-halachic matters call for more wisdom, and will ultimately be as decisive as the purely Halachic in determining our future practice. Of course, this dichotomy cannot be taken too literally, for the Halacha must necessarily deal with these larger “gestalt” issues as well, in the formulation of a final decision. But in this study I shall attempt to concentrate, insofar as possible, on the Halachic material per se. I shall do so, of course, without attempting to be comprehensive or presuming to offer my Psak. This is merely a first attempt to present some of the aspects of the problem for consideration. Description and Origin of Problem: The Late Friday Service is usually held during the winter months, when candle lighting takes place in the early afternoon. At about 8 or 8:30 P.M., the Kabolas Shabos and Maariv is held. This may be eith…

The Time Element B: The next phase of our analysis of the time-element does not involve the matter of Tosefes Shabos and the fear that a Late Service will result in its violation, but concerns a totally different though less severe question. And that is the subject of Orach Arah or Derech Eretz. The source of this argument is Shabos 23b where the Talmud relates that the wife of R. Joseph was late in kindling the candles. Her husband rebuked her for her negligence, on the basis of a Breisoh that: לא ימוש עמוד הענן יומם ועמוד האש לילה מלמד שעמוד ענן משלים לעמוד אש – רש"י אלמא אורח ארעא בהכי His wife then began to kindle the lights much earlier when, we read, אמר לה ההוא סבא תנינא ובלבד שלא יקדים ולא יאחר. The following should be mentioned with regard to this thesis: 1) As stated, Rashi refers to it as Orach Arah, and it is thus of a lower level of severity, since it does not inherently involve the essential laws of Shabos. Further evidence in support of Rashi that this does not touch on the question of Kdooshas Hayoim can be adduced from Yalkut Shimoni (Bshalach 230) where we read as follows: בא הכתוב ללמדך דרך ארץ מן התורה על ערבי שבתות עד שעמוד הענן קיים יהי עמוד האש צמח 2) Even more important in this connection is the possibility that this entire episode of R. Joseph and his wife, and the dictum of Hahoo Sava, does not refer to the Sabbath candles but to the Chanukah candles. Such is the reading of Bahag, Hilchos Chanukah. A similar conclusion may be derived from a study of the text of R. Asher (assuming that all references to Ner on that folio are consistent – cf. text of Alfasi), although the Vilno Gaon emends the text with the word שבת indicating that the entire discourse refers to both Shabos and Chanukah. Maimonides mentions the prohibition of Loi Yakdim Vloi Yaacher as a unit only with regard to Chanukah in Hilchos Chanukah Perek 5, Halacha 5, and not in regard to Shabos; in the laws of the latter (Perek 8 Halacha 3), he only mentions the prohibition of late…

I am grateful to the Editors of CHAVRUSA for giving me this opportunity to bring the discussions on the Late Friday Service to a close conclusion by responding briefly to the comments of Rabbis Weiss, Shoham, and Wolf published in the last issue. I am indebted to Rabbi Weiss for his thoughtful past article in which he supports my contentions in part, and particularly for bringing to my attention the Halachic dimension of the Kabbalat Shabbat psalms and hymns.Insofar as the Halachic criticism of my thesis is concerned, Rabbis Weiss and Shoham agree in disputing my equation of the Talmudic case of a prevenient Saturday night Maariv and our current problem of the Late Friday Service. They argue, essentially, that an early Saturday Maariv necessarily precludes Tossefet Shabbat, which is not the case with the Friday late service. There is no question that they are right — provided we remember that is only if we speak of an occasional delay in the Friday Maariv, so that Tossefet Shabbat is observed as usual. We, however, are discussing a case of, as I put it originally, "normalizing" the Friday Maariv at a late hour. There is no secret as to why we do so — it is because not only Tossefet Shabbat but even Shabbat itself will not be observed until that hour. It is an accommodation provided for those who do not observe the Shabbat. And I maintain that a regular and set Late Service necessarily precludes Tossefet Shabbat, by its very nature and cause and purpose, and gives rise to the legitimate fear of its inspiring actual desecration of the Sabbath proper. When we accept these realities in their practical context, we may justifiably entertain this equivalence between the early Saturday Maariv and the Late Friday service.I fail to understand why Rabbi Shoham seems amused by my attempts to find authority in Talmud and Rishonim for a peculiarly modern problem. If we indeed believe that the Halacha is always relevant and not just fossil material for dissection by legal antiqu…

Dear Rabbi Weiss: I’ve enjoyed your column “Modor Hahalacha.” Rabbi Norman Lamm’s latest contribution was very interesting reading. The thought is whether you are doing justice to the concept of a “Modor Hahalacha” by printing under its masthead a research paper, no matter how brilliantly or scholarly written. Even secular research has established a style and format of its own. Certainly halacha and sheilot u’teshuvot have a style of their own. If this was a sheilah it should have been addressed to the gedolim — if it was a chidush or teshuvah then writing Torah has a definite style — lashon hakodesh. Rabbi Lamm’s piece was a very fine bit of research, so should it not be labeled as such? Again, the wise are to be careful with their words, and to put into printed English the choice of making a choice between Maimonides and Tosafot does seem a bit risky. (Rabbi) Freddie Wolf, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Dear Rabbi Weiss: First, I should like to congratulate you on your decision to accept halachic articles from our musmachim for your column “Modor Hahalacha.” This should stimulate greater halachic interest and activity on our part. If I may, I would like to voice my disagreement with the basic premise of Rabbi Lamm’s article in the September issue of Chavrusa — namely, the equation of the question of late Friday night services to Maariv of motzaei Shabbat said beshabbat. By praying the Maariv shel motzaei Shabbat beshabbat, you necessarily preclude the possibility of tosefet Shabbat by the content of the Maariv shel chol. However, by praying the late Friday service, you don’t preclude the possibility of tosefet Shabbat. One can be mosif Shabbat without Maariv shel Shabbat also. I strongly believe that this objection definitely invalidates Rabbi Lamm’s premise and hence his entire thesis, which — according to him — seems to involve so many halachic authorities from Amoraic times through the period of the Ashkenazic and Sephardic Rishonim who presumably aligned themselv…

Rabbi Norman Lamm is to be commended for dealing boldly and in a Halachic manner with a subject of practical importance to every rabbi. This attests to our frequently affirmed belief that all topical questions must be treated Halachically and must be resolved only within its disciplines. In the first phase of his exposition, Rabbi Lamm compares the late Friday Night Service with the early Saturday Night Service which is permitted by the Talmud (BROCHOS 27b) but is regarded as an unfitting practice by Tosafos. The fears of the elimination of Tosefos Shabbos and Chashash M'lacha raised by Tosafos should, therefore, equally be applied to the late Friday Service. Rabbi Lamm posits, however, that the tacit approval of the early Saturday Night Service by the Rambam should be carried over to our question. Now if this approach is correct, it is fair to mention that the Shulchan Oruch (O.Ch. 293-3) adopts the view of Tosafos which should be for us Halacha Lemaseh. Even when a clear doubt exists the rule is to follow Sugyon d'alma (see 33a Sanhedrin) and the traditional practice all over is not to hold the Saturday Night Service before it is night. Rabbi Lamm may be correct in his suggestion that the Rambam does not object to the early Maariv on Saturday because he does not require Tosefos Shabbos. Then, it is an oversimplification to resolve our problem into a controversy between the Ashkenazic and Sephardic Rabbis, since the Rambam and the Tur stand alone (see Bes Joseph 261) in their silence of Tosefos Shabbos. All the other Rishonim including such non-Ashkenazim as Rav HaGaon and Ray Alfasi agree that Tosefos Shabbos is mandatory. But I think that the “din" of the early Shabbos Maariv would apply also to Yom Kippur where even the Rambam admits Tosefos for fasting at least. The reason should rather be found in Rambam Chapter XXIX of Hilchoth Shabbos in the 11th halacha where he says that the Mitzvah of Kiddush and Havdala is to be practiced at the time of the entrance and…