Why don’t we speak between netilat yadaim and hamotzi?

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hamotzi, netilat yadaim, not speaking, Rabbi Joshua Flug

Many newcomers to Shabat observance have probably had this experience: You go to wash hands with everybody else, go back to your seat and happily chat up your neighbour until you notice that she/he is not answering and/or you are the only person in the room still speaking. Ouch. So you have just learned that the custom is not to speak from hand washing (netilat yadaim) until the blessing over bread (hamotzi) is said.

Where is the source for that? I just stumbled upon a mention in the Kizzur:

Care should be taken not to have an interruption between washing hands and ”who brings forth bread” [the blessing over bread].
(Kizzur shulchan aruch 41:2)

According to Rabbi Josh Flug at YUTorah the actual basis in the Talmud is in Berachot 42a, I assume he meant this one sentence:

Grace should follow immediately on the washing of hands.
(Berachot 42a)

There seems to be a doubt if this sentence actually refers to washing before the meal or after the meal. Among others, the Rambam actually allows speaking, but the recommended procedure nowadays seems to be that it is preferred not to (Halacha Yomit).

Lev Tahor Documentaries

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cult, documentary, extremism, haredim, hyper tzniut, jewish burka, Lev Tahor, politics, shals, tzniut, video

I don’t usually post on politics, but I wanted to link these documentaries about Lev Tahor:

Under the veil of Lev Tahor by Global’s 16×9, aired on February 22nd, 2014 (you can watch at the link or on youtube).

Rabbi of the Pure Hearts: Inside Lev Tahor by CBC’s The Fifth Estate, aired on February 28, 2014 (you can watch at the link or on youtube)

The Lev Tahor cult (כת לב טהור), by Amnon Levi of True Faces (פנים אמיתיות) on Arutz 10, aired on November 2012 (you can watch on youtube with English subtitles Part 1, Part 2)

Horrible!

All kosher animals are listed in the Tora

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ayal, bison, divinity of the tora, giraffe, kiruv, ten kosher animals, tzvi, Zoology

Related to the claim that there are only 4 non-kosher animals with one kosher sign and all of them are listed in the Tora is another claim: That all existing kosher animals are listed in the Tora.

In the Tora, we are given the signs of kosher animals (split hooves and chewing the cud). Most people agree that it is enough for an animal to have the two signs and that there is no need to link all animals back to the list, but some disagree (R. Mordecai Kornfeld, Insights into Chullin 59, section 6: The need for a mesora with regard to a chayah). In any case, despite the signs, the Tora does give a list of kosher land animals, but never defines it to be exhaustive. Here are the relevant verses:

These are the beasts which ye may eat:
the ox [shor],
the sheep [seh ksavim],
and the goat [seh izim],
the hart [ayal],
and the gazelle [tzvi],
and the roebuck [yachmur],
and the wild goat [akko],
and the pygarg [dishon],
and the antelope [te’o],
and the mountain-sheep [zamer].
(Deuteronomy 14:4-6)

Ox, sheep and goat are clear. Ayal probably is deer (Dr. Moshe Raanan: Ayalah Sheluchah). There is a discussion if tzvi refers to gazelle or ibex, the consensus seems to be that it is the gazelle (R. Mordecai Kornfeld, Insights into Chullin 59, section 7: The identity of the tzvi). The identity of the last five species (yachmur, akko, dishon, te’o and zamer) is uncertain (Certified Kosher).

Some people say zemer refers to giraffe which is kosher (R. Yirmiyahu Ullman: Kosher Giraffe). Another kosher animal is the American buffalo (or bison) and some people attempt to connect it to the te’o or yachmur (R. Ari Z. Zivotofsky: Kashrut of Exotic Animals: The Buffalo).

Caribou and elk are kosher, but I haven’t found anyone linking it back to any of the ten species on the list. Okapi, pronghorn, musk deer may also be kosher, but there is little information, also no linking to the list. There has been a debate about zebus in Israel. They are unquestionably kosher, but some people wanted to ban the meat because of a missing mesora (tradition) – which would mean it is not on the above list (R. Yehuda Spitz: Buffalo Burgers and the Zebu Controversy, R. Natan Slifkin: The Zebu Controversy).

As a conclusion, the claim that the Tora list contains all kosher animals is questionable and is not very convincing.

There are only 4 non-kosher animals with one kosher sign – UNTRUE!

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arnevet, camel, divinity of the tora, four nonkosher animals, kiruv, kosher animals, Natan Slifkin, pig, shafan, Zoology

Again and again you hear the kiruv argument that there are only four animals that display one of the kosher signs and no other has ever been found (e.g., Aish, Torahportion, Torah.org, KCA, …)

First, what is the scriptural basis? There are two instances where the Tora lists the signs kosher land animals have to have: split hooves and chewing the cud. After stating this, the Tora says again that animals that have only one of these signs are nonkosher and lists four animals: camel [gamal], hyrax/rock-badger [shafan], hare [arnevet] and swine/pig [chazir].

Nevertheless these shall ye not eat of them that only chew the cud, or of them that only part the hoof: the camel, because he cheweth the cud but parteth not the hoof, he is unclean unto you. And the rock-badger, because he cheweth the cud but parteth not the hoof, he is unclean unto you. And the hare, because she cheweth the cud but parteth not the hoof, she is unclean unto you. And the swine, because he parteth the hoof, and is cloven-footed, but cheweth not the cud, he is unclean unto you.
(Leviticus 11:4-7)

Nevertheless these ye shall not eat of them that only chew the cud, or of them that only have the hoof cloven: the camel, and the hare, and the rock-badger, because they chew the cud but part not the hoof, they are unclean unto you; and the swine, because he parteth the hoof but cheweth not the cud, he is unclean unto you; of their flesh ye shall not eat, and their carcasses ye shall not touch.
(Deuteronomy 14:7-8)

Note first that the plain Tora text never makes any claim that this list of four animals (gamal, shafan, arnevet and chazir) is exhaustive. This claim is only made later by the rabbis:

The Ruler of the universe knows that there is no other beast that chews the cud and is unclean except the camel [and the other animals listed]; […] The Ruler of the universe knows that there is no other beast that parts the hoof and is unclean except the swine; […]
(Talmud, Chullin 59a)

Unfortunately, there are many problems with this claim. It is not certain to which species exactly the animal names refer to, especially in the case of shafan and arnevet (e.g., R. Natan Slifkin: There Are No Kangaroos In Tehillim). The hyrax and the hare seem to be the most likely candidates. But both animals do not chew their cud in the traditional sense of the word. If we include what they do in the definition of chewing the cud, we would have to include many other animals (e.g., Rabbi Natan Slifkin The Torah Encyclopedia of the Animal Kingdom, Chapter on Hyrax). And there are other animals more similar to the camel that chew their cud like the llama (e.g., Rabbi Yaakov Menken: Shemini).

I am not a zoologist and know little about animals, but I have tried to find out what other animals have only one of the kosher signs. It turns out to be a surprisingly difficult task, but here is my attempt. I have found some animals that might belong into the same category than the camel, i.e., ruminant without split hooves (actually Wikipedia lists all of them as pseudo-ruminants with 3-chambered stomaches instead of 4-chambered, just like the camel), I’ve found the llama, alpaca, vicuña, guanaco, dromedar, bactrian camel and the kangaroo. If we broaden the definition of ruminant to include ruminant-like chewing or similar (as for the hyrax and the hare), koala, proboscis monkey, capybara and rabbit have been proposed as possible candidates. As for the last category, animals with split hooves that don’t chew the cud, there are warthog, hippopotamus, aardvark and peccary.

Some links for further reading:
Natan Slifkin: The Camel, the Hare and the Hyrax (there is also a book by that name, this is a link to a blog article with a summary)
Ultimate ungulate, Your Guide to the World’s Hoofed Mammals
Alter Cocker: Proof of God from Kosher Animals
David Goldstein: Of Hare and Hyrax, of Torah and Science

Where are we commanded to rejoice on shabat?

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oneg shabat, rejoicing on shabat, simcha, yom tov

You often read that we are commanded to enjoy shabat and the festivals and because of that we must do X – e.g., drink wine, eat meat. What is the source for this commandment?

The source from scripture that is mostly cited is in the Tora:

And thou shalt rejoice in thy feast, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy man-servant, and thy maid-servant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are within thy gates. Seven days shalt thou keep a feast unto the LORD thy God in the place which the LORD shall choose; because the LORD thy God shall bless thee in all thine increase, and in all the work of thy hands, and thou shalt be altogether joyful.
(Deuteronomy Chapter 16, 14-15)

In these verses "feast" refers to the "feast of the tabernacle", i.e., Succot. But the verse is often recited as a reminder to rejoice in other festivals as well, e.g., Maimonides cites it as a proof text for the commandment of simcha on all holidays in his Mishne Tora (Hilchot Yom Tov, 6:17). Note that the Hebrew word for "joy" that is used is "simcha".

The above applies to holidays, but not to the shabat. The source text cited for shabat is from the prophets:

If thou turn away thy foot because of the sabbath, from pursuing thy business on My holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, and the holy of the LORD honourable; and shalt honour it, not doing thy wonted ways, nor pursuing thy business, nor speaking thereof; Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD, and I will make thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and I will feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father; for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
(Isaiah 58, 13-14)

The Hebrew word used in Isaia for "delight" is "oneg". Rejoicing on shabat is therefor the mitzva of oneg shabat (Mishne Tora, Hilchot Shabat, 30:1) and it is different from the mitzva of simcha.

The mitzva of oneg applies to the holidays as well as shabat (Hilchot Yom Tov, 6:16), but the mitzva of simcha applies only to holidays, not to shabat. Of course, shabat is still by its very nature a joyous occasion, so you shouldn’t start to be sad on shabat!