Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe Podcast Collection

00:01 - Intro (Announcement)
You're listening to Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe of Torch in Houston, texas. This is the Ask Away series on the Everyday Judaism podcast. To have your questions answered on future episodes, please email askaway at torchweborg. Now ask away.

00:23 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
All right, welcome back everybody. Welcome back to the Ask Away number 22,. The highlight it's become the highlight of our week, thank you, we have a full room here. We're so excited to learn together here at the Torch Center. I do have from one of our listeners, our dedicated listeners, benjamin. I have 18 questions. I'm really excited about this, so we're going to go through them as well. Some of them are similar questions or they can be answered together, so we are going to hopefully address those as well, but someone is so impatient no, you're very patient but so excited to ask us questions, so, bruce, go ahead please.

01:03 - Bruce S. (Caller)
I don't understand why the spleen doesn't have to be cut open like the liver, since the purpose of the spleen is to store blood.

01:11 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
That's a very good question. I don't know the answer. Okay, let's just give a background To those of you who are just tuning in right now. We previously discussed the laws of salting, which is Simeon. Number 36 in the abridged Shulchan Aruch, the Kitzer, shulchan Aruch and the halacha talks about different parts of the animal's body need to be salted or soaked or rinsed in different ways, and the spleen did not have that requirement, like other blood-filled organs, to be cut beforehand. I don't know the answer. Probably because it gets extracted quicker or the way it's constructed by Hashem is that it is easier for it to. It's not like the liver or the heart which are. I guess it pulls in there. I don't know exactly how the spleen works to give you an educated answer, but I think that the Torah's concern and the halacha's concern is that we don't consume blood, so the halacha wouldn't give us guidance that is wrong or flawed right. So clearly the spleen is different than the rest of the organs and doesn't require that.

02:33 - Bruce S. (Caller)
My second question is you keep talking about roasting, roasting, roasting.

02:38 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
Only the liver.

02:39 - Bruce S. (Caller)
Only the liver.

02:40 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
Only the liver needs to be roasted.

02:41 - Bruce S. (Caller)
Okay, so you can boil the other part? Yeah, but only after that's salted, after it was soaked and salted and rinsed.

02:44 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
Only the liver needs to be roasted. Okay, so you can boil the other part, yeah.

02:46 - Bruce S. (Caller)
Yeah, but only after that's salted. Salting and rinsing et cetera After it was soaked and salted and rinsed. Okay, great, those were my questions. Thank you, rabbi. Thank you so much.

02:54 - Ron B. (Caller)
You're not going to like me for this.

02:55 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
I'm going to love you for it.

02:57 - Ron B. (Caller)
You're not going to excommunicate me Never, you're assuming we already like you.

03:03 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
Go for it.

03:04 - Ron B. (Caller)
Before I ask my question, let me ask you a quick question Regarding the history of the Jews. What would you say the golden age of the Jews were?

03:13 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
Before I tell you my question, the golden age was probably King David, King Solomon, when they had the temple. That's the ideal state of the Jewish people is when we're in our homeland and we have our temple and we're able to serve God with an amazing level of clarity. That was probably the ideal state of the Jewish people.

03:35 - Ron B. (Caller)
Before I ask my question, would you agree that in the 1700s in Eastern Europe, during the progroms, during the killings, during the pale, that was not necessarily the golden age Would? You agree, yeah, I would agree that when we had progroms, you would agree to that, right, yeah? So, given that, why do some of these ultra-Orthodox Schlemiels. Schlemiels dress with the white socks, with the schloimeh, with the long dress. You're talking about the strimel yeah, yeah, the long.

04:08 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
Thing.

04:09 - Ron B. (Caller)
They look like jerks. Why do they dress like a dark period of our history?

04:18 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
That's a great question. So first, as we Did, you hear what he said.

04:20 - Ron B. (Caller)
It was a great question. It was a great question. Did you hear that, Ed? I heard that.

04:22 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
Yeah, it was a great question, it was a great question.

04:24 - Ron B. (Caller)
Did you hear that, Ed? I heard that.

04:25 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
Yeah, that's a great question, Okay, so let me address that. Let me address that, okay. So first, it's like this I want to address something different and I'll get to the clothing question. Something that's been nagging at me a little bit recently is this right-wing antisemitism that has reared its head lately, whether it be Candace Owens, whether it be Tucker Carlson, whether it be others, who have started to have really, really, really really strong antisemitic sentiment coming from their programs, from their podcasts and their speeches. And to me it's like what's going on over here, what's happening here? These are the people who have always been pro-Israel. Suddenly, they're turning against Israel.

05:15
So I have something I want to share with you that has come to me over Shabbos that I think we need to, I think is correct, and I think it's the message that Hashem is trying to send us. I can't even begin to tell you how many people have told me over the past eight to ten months since our president has been elected last November that, wow, the golden age of America is here. This is going to be the best time for the Jews ever. The problem is is whether or not that's wow, the golden age of America is here. This is going to be the best time for the Jews ever. The problem is is whether or not that's true, the fact that people feel that way and people don't realize that not having our temple rebuilt in Jerusalem, not having the Jews in our homeland, is a problem. We're in exile right now. As comfortable as we feel we're in exile, we can forget that very easily when we just read the news. And Jews like to feel comfortable. They like to not feel oppression. Jews like to not feel that the nations of the world hate us. Jews like to forget that and they like to get comfortable. So whether they're in New York or New Jersey or in Los Angeles or Miami Florida, they like to be comfortable. Hashem doesn't like us comfortable. Hashem likes when we feel uncomfortable, because when we're uncomfortable we get closer to Hashem. When we're uncomfortable, that's when we suddenly realize we have to set our priorities straight Now.

06:53
Just yesterday a friend of mine walked over to my house and he's got this big wild beard, more of hippie, a hippie type of beard. He's got a long ponytail too and he lived in Austin for a while and he just moved to Houston and he says to me you see my beard. He says for 15 years I haven't touched it 15 years. I said why not? He said because I love being in control of my life. He says and this reminds me every day there's one thing that I'm not controlling, it's something that I'm not in control of. I was wondering why he needed to say it to me, but now, with your great question, I know why. Ron, you hear this. Now I know why he said it to me.

07:44
The clothing that we wear is not about history. We're not a people that cares too much about history. Although people give an enormous amount of money Jewish money, sadly going to museums go to every museum. There's Jewish names all over the place. I have no idea why. Why are we worried about the past? We have to worry about our future. We should be giving it to the schools for Jewish day schools. That's the Jewish future. We should be giving it to synagogues. That's the Jewish future, not the museums. Okay, I'm not telling people where to give their money. That's not the point. The point is, though, is that we need to identify as Jews.

08:20
In the halacha that we studied in our classes here in the halacha, that we studied in our classes here in the Everyday Judaism podcast, we discussed the importance the halacha requires us to be different, to dress differently. We're not supposed to blend in, we're not supposed to. Not because we're supposed to be an eyesore, no, because we are supposed to identify ourselves as being a chosen nation. A chosen nation is different. We dress different, we talk differently. We act differently. We speak differently. Everything that we do is different.

08:51
Okay, now the Hasidic customs of how they dress goes back to their, whether it be 100 years ago, 200 years ago or 300 years ago. He said in the 1700s, let me explain something. Okay, years ago or 300 years ago, he said in the 1700s, let me explain something. Okay, there was a generation that was struggling very, very, very badly with their Judaism. They're talking about even before the Enlightenment, before the Reform Movement began in the early 1800s. There were Jews who were struggling. And why were they struggling? They were struggling because they had the nations of the world on one side hating them. They had, you know, culture that was advancing in a way that they were uncomfortable with. They weren't super educated in worldly things they were knowledgeable in. Some of them were knowledgeable in Torah, some of them were not.

09:41
And the Baal Shem Tov actually part of his movement starting the Hasidic movement was to save those people. And he said how do we do that? The first thing we need to do is get them inspired emotionally, get them emotionally excited, get them to open up their hearts, and then we'll fill them up with Torah, then we'll fill them up with the intellect of Torah, and it's funny because the Gaon of Vilna was the exact opposite. Give them the intellectual and then that'll inspire everything else. Okay, but the Elu of Elu, which is what the Talmud says. They're both the word of Hashem and they're both fine. Whichever way, I don't care how someone connects to their Judaism, as long as they connect, that's the most important thing.

10:30
Okay, so now they started, and that's where the strimel came from. It came from more of like the, the Eastern European, or even some in Russia. It was really cold and they wanted to have something which looked majestic. So they had. They had this strimal and they had the longer coats, which were identifiable as being a Jewish garment. There are some who wear white socks, some who wear the black socks, some who wear long, some who wear short. Everyone has their different style, which is fine, because everyone wants to be unique. Everyone wants to be unique and everyone wants to be special and that's fine.

11:04
Judaism has plenty of place for every person to express themselves the way they want within the realm of halach. It's very interesting that if you look at a pair of tzitzis tzitzis, the top of it is all knotted right. So you have a knot, then you have the strings that circle right it's 7, 8, 11, 13, and in between there's two knots each one of those circles, and then it's free-flowing strings. Our sages tell us that the top part, the five knots, that's the five books of the Torah. It's the five books of the Torah. That is no negotiation. But beyond that, everyone has. They all flow freely. The tzitzits flow freely and everyone can express themselves in a unique way.

11:53
And you have some Hasidic customs that go with not even black. Some have like a gold long jacket up to their knees. That's the Jerusalem, hasidim, the Yerushalmis. Then you have those who have black and you have those who have it with a velvet collar, and then you have other. Everyone wants to feel special, everyone's in each dynasty, and you have hundreds of Hasidic dynasties. Everyone has their own way of standing out and being unique and that's fine, right, we can not like it, so we don't have to dress like that.

12:29
But here's the amazing thing we, within ourselves, as Jews, we have to be very careful about not judging other Jews in a negative eye. You know there was an individual who was traveling on a train and this guy walks over to him and says to him you filthy Jew, look at you. You know he sees him with his beard and he sees him with his yarmulke. See, he says to him excuse me, jewish, amish. He says oh, amish, we love the way you dress, we love the way you are, we love the.

13:02
We have to realize that the nations of the world are always going to judge us. The nations of the world are always going to judge us and the nations of the world may not enjoy the way we dress, they may not appreciate the way we are. But we internally have to recognize that we need to be tolerant of every person around us. One person is going to have a yarmulke like this, someone's going to have like that, someone's going to have like that, one's going to have a baseball cap, one's going to have that yarmulke, and everyone's going to have their own thing. Beautiful, beautiful. We're not a communist people. We are, unless you're the early kibbutzniks right, but the truth is our. We have freedom of expression in Judaism and everyone has their own.

13:45
What's very interesting is that even in the halachas that we learn here, in the Kitzosh HaHonorach that we learn you'll find so many times Yesh Omerim, there are some say like this and there are some say like that. What do you mean? Just tell me it should be black letter law. Tell me it's like this, and only like this. No, different people have different customs of how they do. We all have the same principles, the same principle.

14:09
And, by the way, those people that you don't really like the way they dress, they will take the shirt off their back to help you. And when you're stuck in the rain with your broken down car and you will call them to help you, they will leave their home. They will leave everything. They will leave their home. They will leave everything. They will drop everything to go help you, and they don't even know who you are. They will do anything in the world you will never find Chassidim comes from the word chesed they will do. They will literally take the shirt off your back to help you. So I think we need to focus a lot on the greatness of our people.

14:42
If you want, I'll just give you one more example. As you know, I'm a member of Hatzalah. I'm a member of Hatzalah, right. So I carry this radio and if there's a call very few times that there were calls nearby, here during a class but when there was, we turn everything off and I go, because saving a life comes before everything else.

15:02
Do you know that there are people I'm not talking about myself, but there are people who will jump out of bed at three in the morning. They had a long day, they have a wife and kids, they have a job that they need to be at at six in the morning or seven in the morning and they'll jump out of bed because someone is in need of medical attention. They'll do everything, they'll stop everything, and you know what? It's all volunteer. They don't charge a dime, not to you, not to your insurance. They don't ask any questions.

15:34
I've had so many people. I've come to their homes. They're like how much do I need to pay for this? I'm like it's zero. Well, what do you mean? It's zero. I said, yeah, that's what we are. We take care of each other, we take care of our brothers and sisters. That's what it's about. So I appreciate the question. I do appreciate the question because I think it's important for us to recognize the greatness of our people, that we're all unique and different. We don't have to look the same, we don't have to be members of the same synagogue, we don't have to be members of the same affiliation, but every single Jew has the ability, and should have the ability to be unique and express their closeness to Hashem in their unique way. Did I answer your question?

16:13 - Ron B. (Caller)
I respect what you're saying, but there's a Jewish tradition that I could disagree.

16:19 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
Good good, good, please do. I'm happy that you do Excellent. Thank you, ron. Anybody else? Any other questions? Before I get to Benjamin's questions, one second. Let's pass the microphone there, anna. So we're talking about salting stuff, but we're not talking about being salty, right, okay, yeah, okay.

16:38 - Anna S. (Caller)
No, but so you mentioned some parts that really don't sound very yummy. You're talking about salting the rectum, really. Does somebody eat this.

16:54 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
I don't know, I honestly don't know, but you never know what someone might want to eat, and when people were very, very poor, they couldn't be. But the halacha still addresses. Whether or not it is appetizing, I don't know, I don't know, but the halacha still needs to provide us with guidance for every part of the animal Like a just in case, just yes, okay, regardless of its appetite level.

17:21 - Anna S. (Caller)
The other thing is can a brine be a substitute for salting?

17:27 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
I think it actually needs to be salt, salt, salt, salt. It extracts the blood. Brine gives flavor, it puts in flavor. This has to extract the blood. So I don't believe that brine can serve. I think it specifically needs to be salt and it needs to be a little bit of a more coarse salt when it is salted.

17:49 - Anna S. (Caller)
Okay, I have an awkward question.

17:51 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
Ask, ask away.

17:51 - Anna S. (Caller)
Okay, so the asher yatzar, you say that for flatulence.

17:57 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
No, but you do say a person should say asher yatzar after they actually use the restroom. And even if someone has just they need to go a little bit, it doesn't make a difference Any amount that we exercise. The ability to function as a human being is the greatest gift in the world, and reciting that blessing is really a special thing and if you read the words carefully it's so powerful. Thanking Hashem for every part of our body that functions properly. It's a special gift.

18:32 - Anna S. (Caller)
But I do have another question.

18:33 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
Sure go for it, anna.

18:35 - Anna S. (Caller)
We've talked about this before, but giving body parts do I understand correctly, we're okay to give our body parts for donation while we're alive, but once we're passed it's no longer ours. Correct, is that correct?

18:50 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
That is correct. Yes, so I'm happy you brought that up because I didn't want to forget to bring it up before we were done so that nobody can have any misunderstandings. While we're alive, if there is an organ that we can give, like a kidney, that doesn't take away our life, that is a mitzvah to give. Regarding post-mortem, after a person passes away and they want to donate their organs, it's very complicated in halacha whether or not a person can do that After someone. Definitely not to give an organ that will end one's life. And in most of these situations, even though they're considered to be, even by law, I believe they, you know, they keep the organ alive, as you know, harvested, as long as they can and then once they clamp, they clamp the blood supply. It is, they are, it's, you're done. You're done.

19:48
Actually, the question that came up before about the anesthesiologist why is? Why was the anesthesiologist there? So one of the things the anesthesiologist told me he showed me a medication and he said to me you see, this medication. He said this medication makes your blood into thinner than water. He says you know that it's an amazing miracle. You know how many holes we have in our body, pores, and the blood doesn't leave our body from the pores. It's an amazing miracle. That's why, because the blood is thicker than the holes that we have in our body and that's why it doesn't just ooze out. He said this becomes makes the. This medication will make the blood so thin that it will literally come out of the pores. He says that's why they only use it on such, on a donor, in such a situation. So so and and it's don't be shy. Don't be shy. We're a friendly crowd. We're a friendly crowd. Go for it.

20:47 - Ana S. (Caller)
It's a silly question.

20:48 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
No such thing as silly.

20:50 - Ana S. (Caller)
The Mevushal wine.

20:51 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
Okay.

20:52 - Ana S. (Caller)
So what is the difference between a Mevushal wine or a regular kosher wine? And it is like a certain time like we need to drink juice Mevushal, or it doesn't matter.

21:04 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
Okay, very good question. All the laws of Mevushal and not Mevushal wine we're going to get to. We're going to learn it in the Ketzel Shulchan Aruch, we're going to talk about this. But the general idea is that wine could be used for idolatry. In certain practices of idolatry, they would pour wine for their idols. So we are very cautious about this because we want the food and the drink that we consume to not be tainted with impurities, particularly not idolatry.

21:36
So what happens if the wine was pasteurized, which is what we call mevushal? Mevushal means literally it was cooked, so then it decreases a little bit in its quality and nobody would use that for their idolatry. So when you have a non-Jew, a non-Jew is not allowed to touch a non-mevushal wine. A non-mevushal wine means it's just regular wine. So if a non-Jew touches that non-Mevushal wine, once it's opened, obviously, then it becomes a Jew can't drink it. A Jew can't drink it. So you have to be very careful to have Mevushal wine. A Mevushal wine is not problematic. A non-Jew can touch it. Okay, you with me? No, no, no, no. All the wines that are kosher will have either Mevushal or non-Mevushal.

22:30 - Ana S. (Caller)
I have another wine. It's same Mevushal, so I don't understand.

22:35 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
Okay, okay, so let's go back.

22:38 - Ana S. (Caller)
It's very hard, sorry.

22:40 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
Wine that we consume needs to be kosher. Okay, it needs to be certified kosher. So you can find an OU, you can find an OK, you can find a star K, you can find all these different kosher symbols that identify that the wine is kosher. Additional to that, there will be a little word Either it says mevushal, which means that it's pasteurized and that wine can be touched by a non-Jew, and if it says non-bevushal, it shouldn't be touched by a non-Jew, but that's only after it's opened Okay.

23:14
Once it's opened, if they even touch the bottle, it's not good, okay. So, for example, you go to the supermarket, you go to H-E-B okay, you go to the supermarket, you go to H-E-B okay, you go to H-E-B and they have a great selection of wines. You go to the kosher butcher, you go to Ophir's, which is the harovah. They have a very nice selection of wines. That's not being put onto the shelves, it's not being stocked by Jews per se, but it's fine because it's sealed. So, even non-Mavushal wine, we're not assuming that it was tampered with or played with, because it's sealed and that's why you have that seal on top of it which locks it closed. And then, when you open it, okay, now, mevushal wine. If it's Mevushal, it's fine. If anybody touches it, it's fine If anybody all right deals with it.

23:59 - Ana S. (Caller)
Even if it's open.

24:00 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
Even if it's open, right. So when we had, for example, our torch galas, our torch dinners, we were only able to serve Mevushal wines, right, because it's being served by waiters that are non-Jewish, so they can handle Mevushal wine, Non-Mevushal they cannot touch.

24:25 - Ana S. (Caller)
Okay, so if I invite someone, let's say, to my house and there are non-Jews and I have a non-mevushal wine, they cannot touch it, correct, because then I can drink.

24:28 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
That's correct. It's a good question. I would say that you probably can serve them non-mevushal wine. You can serve it to them, but you have to be careful that if they touch that bottle you now can no longer use it, right? So it's something to be very, very careful about and it's a delicate topic, right, because you know you have to know who's able to hear that and accept that and understand that maturely. Again, we're very cautious about people's feelings too. We have to make sure that we do it in a way that's not going to hurt, insult someone. It's like there are ways to do it that are proper and there are ways to do it that can be very, very harsh.

25:12 - Ana S. (Caller)
And you have to be careful not to do things in a harsh way. For example, you have a non-Jewish family and it's like it's hard, but now I understand like, oh, I cannot share my non-mevushal wine.

25:28 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
You know the Mavushal wines are usually cheaper. Also, you can find some really nice Mavushal wines, by the way, really really nice Mavushal wines. But again, because it goes through that boiling process it lowers the quality a little bit. But today the Israeli wines, a lot of them, are non-Mavushal because they want to maintain the quality of the wine. And you just have to be careful when you buy them to make sure that you know what's Mevushal, what's not. And when you go to people's homes and if you bring someone a bottle of wine, you have to make sure you just be careful about what you're buying them. Also, there's another we can get into this.

26:03 - Ana S. (Caller)
we're going to get into this later in Allah. Yes, because I went to someone's house for Shabbos lunch and then she told me oh, we just drink mebushal, just to be careful and I was like okay, what's?

26:13 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
what does this mean?

26:13 - Ana S. (Caller)
yeah, right okay I kind of understand a little bit, but not quite. So I say, you know, I'm gonna ask you okay, very good, I hope you understand now yes, now I understand perfectly. Yes, thank you thank you.

26:24 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
Thank you for asking that question. It's not a silly question at all. It's an excellent question.

26:27 - Ana S. (Caller)
Okay, all right uh, my next question is about Kosher Baracha, the Birkat Hamason.

26:35 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
Yeah.

26:37 - Ana S. (Caller)
Not only it's for Shabbos lunch or only just for Shabbos night, and if I understand, it's just for men's right, or women's too.

26:46 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
Well, okay. So here's the thing. Tosha Bracha is the cup that is filled with wine for the recitation of the Bekat Hamazon, the grace after meals. That's done if you have three or more men. Right now, women can make their own zimon together. So if you have three women sitting and having lunch, they can make their own rabotai nevarech like the men do and they can.

27:12
Presumably they can make their own rabotai nevarech, like the men do, and they can. Presumably they can also use a wine. There's no reason they can't. They can't do it on a glass of wine as well, on the koshebarcha, on that cup of wine. Just to give you an understanding here. What we're talking about. There is a not everyone does this, by the way. Not everyone does it. It goes by custom, usually Some. By the way, not everyone does it, it goes by custom. Usually. Some people have the custom of reciting the grace after meals with a full cup of wine. That means the person leading the grace after meals has a cup of wine which they hold till they finish the fourth blessing. Not everyone has that custom. I know that in my family it's not our custom that we do that. But if you do, it's for all the meals, it's not only for one meal, it's for all the meals Friday night, shabbos day and Sudash Lishit for the third meal. Now there are some because you're not supposed to drink.

28:05 - Ana S. (Caller)
For the last Sudatu.

28:06 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
Yes, oh, okay, yes, for the third meal as well. Now there are people who, mistakenly, after the third meal don't drink the wine, because the halacha says that after the third meal you're not supposed to eat until after havdalah. So by drinking the wine and some people save the wine, they'll save that full glass of wine for the havdalah. They'll just add a little bit of wine, it'll overflow and then they have the Havdalah. So let me explain If you have a kos, a cup filled with wine for the grace, after meals on the Friday night meal and the Shabbos morning meal, then for the third meal you have to drink it as well, because it's part of your meal If you don't for the others.

28:57
For example, in synagogue, sometimes in synagogue, most synagogues don't have a meal Friday night. They don't have a meal Shabbos day. They do have a meal for the third meal of Shabbos. In that case, because they don't drink the wine after the first two meals, because everyone they don't have the meal there. So then they don't need to drink it after the third and they can save it for a dollar. Okay, but yes, generally speaking, if someone's custom is to, it'll be for all meals. Not during the weekday meals generally, unless it's a festive meal yes, yes next question go.

29:31 - Ana S. (Caller)
So can I use the same cup like the men use? Why?

29:36 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
not, why not?

29:38 - Ana S. (Caller)
But in the same table.

29:39 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
Why not?

29:39 - Ana S. (Caller)
For example, let's say we're eating right now and it's, more than you know, one, three men's. So can I use the same cup or it's just for men's.

29:48 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
No, the cup could be used by anybody. It's a cup. You can rinse it out if you don't want to use someone else's cup. Right, you rinse it out so that it's clean and then use the cup. There's no reason not to. Okay, it's not contaminated.

29:59 - Ana S. (Caller)
Sorry, I have another question.

30:01 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
Yeah, go for it.

30:03 - Ana S. (Caller)
So at home I have mugs glass, Just to use it for.

30:10 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
Coffee.

30:10 - Ana S. (Caller)
Yes, and everything it's easier for me. Good. But I have a question If, for example, I eat meat and I want to drink tea and I just have dairy cups, can I use the same cup, even if I eat?

30:24 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
So the.

30:25 - Ana S. (Caller)
I don't have it right now. I don't have that problem. I just want to be clear, because my mugs are glass.

30:31 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
Right, so glass you can use. But I just want to be clear, because my mugs are glass. Right, so glass you can use.

30:32 - Ana S. (Caller)
Yeah, I know, but I just want to know if I'm at someone else's house, let's say, and that person just has dairy mugs, and I drink, I eat meat, can I use that mug or no?

30:45 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
Okay, you ate dinner. That was meat. Yes, okay, so you're now in the meat category. Let's call it right. Yes, they serve you a drink in a mug, right, tea, tea, okay. So what's the problem?

31:00 - Ana S. (Caller)
But those cups are dairy. So, I'm not broken any rule.

31:06 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
I don't believe that that would be an issue. Why would that be an issue?

31:08 - Ana S. (Caller)
Because it's dairy and I just eat meat. But it's the glass. No, not the glass. Oh so it's the ceramic ceramic.

31:17 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
Yes, I wouldn't. I wouldn't use the ceramic. That's what I'm saying but well, it depends, it really depends. Uh, ceramic I would not use, ceramic I would not use because ceramic holds the holds the, the, the dairy consistency of it.

31:30
Yes, right, what's right? So that's the. It's a question whether or not they're glazed or not. So it's. It holds the dairy consistency of it. Yes, right, right. So it's a question whether or not they're glazed or not. I would use a different one and avoid that challenge. You have plenty of paper cups today, right, and you have glass.

31:44 - Ana S. (Caller)
Yeah, but it's not my house.

31:45 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
I understand it's not your house, right? If you can avoid it, that would be preferable. Yes, definitely, okay, okay.

31:52 - Ana S. (Caller)
Another question can avoid it. That would be. That would be. It's preferable. Yes, definitely okay. Okay another question yes, go for it. So when I light the shabbos candles, I'm allowed to ask for personal things or not. It's just to be thankful okay.

32:02 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
So yes, you can ask for personally. It's a very powerful time to to ask, and it's particularly because you're lighting candles before Shabbos. Even though that's the onset of Shabbos for you, it's usually 18 minutes before Shabbos. I think one of the reasons for it the reason why it's 18 minutes before Shabbos is so that you can still include your personal prayers, because typically on Shabbos you don't include personal prayers, but because it's such a powerful time with the onset of Shabbos, we ask. We ask for our children to be righteous, we ask for our lives to be filled with blessing. We ask for many amazing things in that prayer. I think there's no reason we can't include a personal prayer in there, beyond the text that we read from the prayers that our sages prepared to add in a special request. I think it's very special.

32:52 - Ana S. (Caller)
So sorry Don't be sorry so normally I separate in my dishwasher, I put all meat together and then I wait and I put all dairy together.

33:03 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
But can I do it In the same dishwasher?

33:05 - Ana S. (Caller)
Yes.

33:06 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
Okay.

33:06 - Ana S. (Caller)
So I'm breaking any rule over there.

33:08 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
It could be problematic.

33:10 - Ana S. (Caller)
I don't put it together.

33:11 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
I understand Dishwashers might not, depending on what type of dishwasher you might need a separate dishwasher for the dairy versus the meat. Okay. We'll talk about it after. I'll ask you for the specifics of it, because it's not so simple.

33:27 - Ana S. (Caller)
So now I feel super bad.

33:29 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
Don't feel super bad. Don't feel super bad. We're all in a growth process here. We're all in a growth process here. We're all in a growth process. There are many things I'll tell you. I sit every Shabbos and I look up halacha for different things that come up for me and I grew up in a Shomer Shabbos home. There are things that I'm like I can't believe. I did that wrong my entire life. It's fine, okay, but that's the reality. We're all here not to be perfect, but to strive for perfection and to try to do everything we can to right. Sometimes we make mistakes. It's fine. That's part of our growth. And there's some things that I might say here on this episode that people are gonna send me. What's wrong with you? How can you say that? And I'll have to correct myself. I don't know everything. I try to know everything. I try to learn as much as possible and to grow constantly. Don't be ashamed of growing. Don't be ashamed Right. You're doing a great job.

34:20 - Ana S. (Caller)
What is your advice? So just do it by hand, Derry.

34:23 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
I would say whichever one has more volume, make it dedicated to that, okay, and then the other one, just do it by hand. I grew up in my home. Growing up, we had only one dishwasher. It was a meat dishwasher and everything else needed to be done by hand.

34:43 - Bruce S. (Caller)
Excellent questions, thank you this issue of not asking for things on Shabbos. Isn't Sim Shalom asking for things?

34:53 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
yeah, we're talking about the personal things Personal, personal, personal.

34:58 - Bruce S. (Caller)
I find it real personal. I want a chen v'cheson v'rachamim.

35:04 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
That's general things. That's general things. We're asking for mercy. We're asking for all of Hashem's attributes to play a role in our lives yes, but then we're asking for all of Hashem's attributes to play a role in our lives yes, but then we're asking for specific things, Specific Hashem. Can you please heal me? Hashem, can you please get me a job? These are personal things that we don't request personal things on Shabbos. Shabbos transcends everything. Like the way I think visualize, Shabbos is Shabbos. We're on the top floor with the king. You're there. You're there. You have the highest level of closeness. Your neshama is on such a high level on Shabbos that the requests are not necessary. We're just at a higher level of closeness with Hashem.

35:51 - Bruce S. (Caller)
With all my health issues on Shabbos, I can't ask God to heal me, is that?

35:56 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
what you're telling me. I actually think that you can add it. In the first three prayers we say oh in there, you can have in mind for all of my Hashem, you're the healer of all sickness. I'm included in that and have that in mind. I was thinking about that because I was wondering the same question. Maybe that's why our sages kept that part in our prayer on Shabbos as well, so that we can have in mind again. We don't verbalize it outright, but we can have in mind Hashem. You got a guy here who needs healing. I know a person or two who can use healing. You're the rofei cholem. You're the one who heals all sick.

36:38 - David Z. (Caller)
Okay, Thank you, and I forget the word. There's a word when you kind of leave an order or, for example, if you go to hospice and you leave an order for you not to be fed or DNR, dnr, do not resuscitate yeah do not resuscitate. That was what I was thinking. So how do you feel Hashem feels about DNR saying don't feed me, let me pass away.

37:02 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
Okay, so this is a good question For Jesus, right? So it's a very good question. I know many people who had DNRs signed before they passed away, and the reason halachically and why the family would do that is because they were in more pain being alive. They were in such excruciating pain. Prolonging that pain is not our desire either. So if someone is on their way out, on their way to the next world, we don't want to do it means there are ways that, medically, you can prolong their lives. But do you want to do that when they're suffering at such a level? And that's why a rabbinic question needs to be asked.

37:46
And I remember for my wife's grandmother. I remember that she had a DNR, but it was only after they consulted with the rabbis. They were told what her condition was. They were told, you know, everything was explained both by the medical team and by the family, and it was the decision that a DNR should be signed because she was in such excruciating pain. You don't want to prolong that, okay, so it's a very good question. It's very important for us to have that sensitivity, to realize that there's a time to live and there's a time to move on, and we obviously want to be in this world to fulfill the will of Hashem as long as we can, and hopefully we should all live happy and healthy, successful lives fulfilling the will of Hashem. Biz hundret and svansik, we say in Yiddish till 120, right, like our master, our teacher Moshe Rabbeinu, lived to 120. We don't live longer than the master, which is why that became the age of. Okay, great question, david. Any other questions?

38:55 - Ed S. (Caller)
Several years ago I was in Israel and I was having dinner with an acidic family and I gave you a call to find out what kind of wine I needed to buy for them and you told me to get a Meshavah wine. Why Meshavah and not just kosher?

39:09 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
Well, mavushal is within the realm of kosher. Then you have to break it down. It's kosher, great. Now it's either Mavushal, which is pasteurized or cooked, and non-Mavushal. The reason you get Mavushal is because sometimes people will have sensitivities and people will not know I don't know who you know that's always being on the safer side getting a Mavushal wine. I don't know who you know that's always being on the safer side getting a Mavushal wine. So there's reason for that. Now there's still a lot more to talk about. We're going to get to those halachas. We're going to get to those halachas in our study. Further in our study, we're going to talk about the wine issues more. But yeah, it's always safer to do that, okay, okay.

39:54 - Ed S. (Caller)
One more question, kind of remember there's a part of the hindquarter that you're not supposed to eat.

39:59 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
Correct the gidda nasha.

40:01 - Ed S. (Caller)
Right, since you're not supposed to eat it, I assume that does not have to be salted.

40:06 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
Correct. Well, it needs to be removed completely, but I don't really know. I don't really know. It's a good question. I'll have to inquire. I have a friend of mine in Dallas who is a shochet and I can ask him. I'll call him and I'll ask him what needs to be done and how it needs to be done, how it needs to be dealt with. Yes, what is it called? The sciatic nerve Right the back over there, the T-bone needs to be, needs to be, cannot be eaten by us. The Torah prohibits us from eating that. All right.

40:37
So now, my dear friends, I want to, I want to thank our online listeners for joining us, and one of our participants sent me 800, sorry, 18, not 800, 18 questions, 18, yeah, so we're going to go through them. I want to thank Benjamin. Thank you, benjamin, from New York, who shared the following questions so tefillin must be kosher? Yes, tefillin must be kosher. What does that mean? What is tefillin? Tefillin are the phylacteries which a Jewish man should wear every single day, every single weekday, not Shabbos, not Yom Tov, not holiday. A man should wear tefillin. Anybody here who does not have a pair of tefillin, please see me, and if you're interested in having a pair of tefillin. I will happily help you with that and we can learn together how to put tefillin on. Tefillin needs to be kosher. What does it mean to be kosher? It means that it's made by a God-fearing person, a God-fearing Jew who knows the laws of tefillin. Tefillin need to be made from the hide of a kosher animal, both the outside and the inside. The inside is the parchment on which four different portions of the Torah are written on it Shema Vahayim, shema Kadesh, likha Bachar, and the fourth one is Vahayim Ki Yeviachah. These are four portions that need to be written in every pier of tefillin. Now, the head tefillin, you may notice, has four compartments. That's because each of those portions are written on a different parchment. On the hand tefillin, it's written on one parchment. It's very, very small and you have to be very careful about it.

42:18
I'm neurotic about my tefillin. I really am like. I'm horrified of the idea of God forbid one day wearing a pair of tefillin that are not kosher. Heaven forbid. I told my wife God forbid if I'm ever incapacitated. I'm in the hospital. I said I don't care what the story is, make sure they put on tefillin on me every single day.

42:45
I'm horrified of the idea of not wearing tefillin. Now, I don't know if halachically that would be permissible if someone's God forbid in a coma, okay, now I don't know if halachically that would be permissible if someone's God forbid in a coma, but I don't want to be in a situation where, god forbid, a day passes without me wearing tefillin. It's a great question. It's a great question whether or not women can wear tefillin. It's for a different topic. I'm not going to be able to get through Benjamin's 18 questions if I address that now.

43:14
Rashi's daughters did wear tefillin and I know that there are some women today who do. It's not popular for women to be wearing tefillin today. I'll explain it even more. It doesn't really do what it needs to do for a woman. Okay, it doesn't check the boxes. What I mean is is that a man needs certain things to connect him with the Almighty. A woman has a totally different voltage and that voltage doesn't need the same things, right?

43:46
We like to think in our world of modernity that everything is egalitarian and everything is equal. It's not equal, it's different. Apples and oranges are different. They're very, very different. They're both fruit. They're different. We're both human beings, male and female, but we're different. We all need different things to connect us. Men need our antennas. We need our antennas to be refined. How do we do that? That's with our tefillin, and tefillin are very, very powerful.

44:12
A lemon cannot be used for the mitzvah of lulav. That's question part two. Yes, a lemon cannot. It's a special citrus that is used for an eserk. So, benjamin, that's a great question.

44:29
Now Benjamin is asking this after we discussed the Ask Away 18, where we talked about the mikvah, we talked about other mitzvahs, we talked about bread. So he's asking a few questions here about mikvah. So we'll do them quickly. Question number two how can a swimming pool be used to fulfill the mitzvah of mikvah, given these standards for ritual items? Okay, so here's the quick thing what makes a mikvah kosher?

44:48
What makes a mikvah kosher? Is it being filled with 40 sa'ah of rainwater? So if your swimming pool is filled with rainwater, water that was not in a vessel, okay, it needs to be pure rainwater, not in a vessel. So you can't take faucet water and say, well, it rained into these pipes. No, once it's in a pipe already, it's not considered pure rain water. So if, technically speaking, benjamin, if I emptied out my swimming pool which I plan to do one day because I need to recoat the plaster in the pool. So at that point, before I refill the pool with water, I'm going to wait for it to rain 40 sahar. So that way, after the 40 sahar are in the pool and there's more laws about mikvah than we're going to detail here but after the 40 sahar are in there, it's a biblically valid mikvah.

45:50
Now it's a biblically valid. What does it mean biblically? That means that it Now it's a biblically valid. What does it mean biblically? That means that it could be used for a woman. Then A woman who has a biblical obligation to a mikvah can use that pool. Okay, now would I recommend it? Not necessarily. You can go to a proper mikvah, right? There's designated places, like in multiple synagogues here in Houston, that have a special mikvah area for women to use. Now, what's about men? And why are men? And this is one of the questions that he says later on about? Okay, so you know what. We'll go in order and I'm not going to skip around, so that way I don't miss any of the questions. Okay, question number three, four.

46:33
So a swimming pool can be used for a mikvah as long as the first 40 se'ah of water was rainwater, pure rainwater, falling from the heavens, not that it went through a vessel, not that you collected pails of rainwater and poured it in, because once it's in a vessel it becomes invalid for the use in the mikvah for the first 40 sah. After that you can add more water to the 40 sah and it's fine. If a swimming pool is permissible, could a bathtub or shower suffice? Again, for a woman, no, for a man. There's something called the tisha kabim. Tisha Kabim is nine kabim of water that if a person goes into a shower this is, by the way, what's used for a tahara for a deceased. After someone's deceased, we cleanse the body and it needs to be with a quantity of water of Tisha Kabim, nine kabim of water with one steady flow In a shower, technically speaking, of water that you know, with one steady flow. So in a shower, technically speaking, you fulfill that and a man can fulfill his mikvah.

47:39
Now we're going to get into this because he's going to say he's going to ask this question soon of why do men have a rabbinic meaning, the rabbinic law of men going to the mikvah before holidays, for example, before Rosh Hashanah, yom Kippur? There's a rabbinic law that men should go to the mikvah. It's not a biblical obligation, and it doesn't have to be the same type of mikvah that a woman would use, which is a biblical obligation Women have. The Torah requires a woman to go to the mikvah. The Torah does not require a man to ever go to the mikvah unless he's a Kohen before the service in the temple and someone who got defiled because of certain things, like a Tomei Mes, someone who came into physical contact with a corpse, right. So there are specific scenarios where a man is obligated to go to a kosher mikvah, but ordinarily a man does not have a biblical obligation to go into a mikvah. Why not ignore the minimum water volume requirement too? If you can go into a bathtub, so then why do we need to have? So if we're using a mikvah as a ritual bath to purify us from any impurities, we want it to be done properly. Again, for a man it's not a biblical obligation. There's no place in the Torah where it says that a man, on a regular basis, needs to go. You can fulfill that with your shower. You can fill that with a big bathtub as well.

49:08
Okay now we recommended the amazing book of Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, waters of Eden. So he says he brings in question number five, waters of Eden, includes the blessing for the Keilah mikvah for utensils, which we're gonna talk about in the upcoming episodes of dipping in a mikvah. So when you buy new dishes, you dip them in the mikvah. Before you use them, make sure that the labels, the tags, are off right, make sure that the stickers are taken off and you dip the utensils in the mikvah.

49:42
There's a special blessing, al Tevila's Kalim that is recited, but women as well. When a woman goes to the mikvah, when a woman goes to the mikvah there, when a woman goes to the mikvah, when a woman goes to the mikvah, there's a blessing that's recited as well. For men, again, there's no obligation for a man to go, no biblical obligation for a man to go, and therefore there's no blessing that a man recites. Okay, so there's no obligation for a man to go to the mikvah, therefore there's no blessing. There is an obligation for a woman, there is an obligation for utensils and therefore there is a special blessing for that. What is the blessing here in the Siddur? In the Siddur we'll have the Al-Tvila scale and I know for sure for the woman it's Al-Hatvila. I believe it is Baruch Atah Hashem Elokeinu Malachol Hamashar Kedishon Mitzvot Tzvano Al-Hatvila.

50:33
Is a Shehecheyanu appropriate? I don't think so. I don't think Shehecheyanu is appropriate a blessing to be recited upon going to the mikvah. If one is really really, really excited about the mitzvah of going to the mikvah perhaps they do, I don't know. Regarding, I wanted to look this up before class today.

50:50
Regarding conversion, if someone is going to the mikvah, if there is a special blessing I don't recall. I was at one conversion at the dipping into the mikvah, and I don't recall whether or not they recited the blessing. That's the only time a man would be obligated for conversion than a mikvah is required. I don't recall that a blessing was recited, but I may be wrong, so I'm sorry If no. Baruch Ha'aset. Is this similar to counting the omer without a baruch ha'if edes missed? It's a very good question. I don't think it's recited Shehechianu. This is regarding going to the mikvah. It's a great question, benjamin.

51:31
Can it still be considered a mitzvah? Yes, so anything that we do, what is a mitzvah? Well, we loosely translate it as commandment, but a mitzvah, it's even more than a good deed. A mitzvah is something that brings us closer to Hashem. Hashem prescribes in His Torah 248 performative mitzvahs that bring us closer to Hashem. There are many, many, many breakdowns of those 248 commandments. They go into many, many details, but the 365 prohibitions that we have in the Torah as well are tools to get us closer to Hashem and not build barriers between us and the Almighty. So is it considered a mitzvah? Yes, if you're doing this to become closer to Hashem, is it considered a mitzvah? Yes, if you're doing this to become close to Hashem? Definitely it's a mitzvah, but I don't believe that a blessing is necessary to be recited. Okay, my wife is currently traveling and is occupied assisting her mother, so I couldn't ask her.

52:25
This Is the bracha for immersion displayed in the women's mikvah. It should be. Most mikvahs will have a sign. I've even seen it on touring different mikvahs that they had it like engraved in the stone in the wall. The blessing For men and women converting to Judaism. Which bracha is recited? I don't know what bracha is recited. Again, I said this earlier. I don't know what bracha Iited. Again, I said this earlier. I don't know what bracha. I have to look into it and get back to you. It's a great question, benjamin. We're up to question number 12, so we're almost done. Do they include a bracha for conversion, immersion or she'achiyanu? I don't know. Again, I'll get back to you on that. Are the brachot the same for both genders? Most likely, but with the proper male-female gender in the blessing yes, for a male convert.

53:19
Is a kosher mikvah required? Yes, or would a swimming pool be sufficient? No, so yes, for a male convert, it needs to be a kosher mikvah a swimming pool. Unless it's a kosher mikvah swimming pool, which is very rare. There are people I know people who did a lot of work to ensure that their swimming pool was a kosher mikvah. It could be used for women, it could be used for men, it could be used for conversions, etc. Etc. But again, you need to make sure that the laws of mikvah are very, very specific and you need to make sure that someone who really, really, really knows what they're doing not me someone who really really knows what they're doing, is overseeing it and ensuring that the mikvah, that the mikvah that the swimming pool is indeed a kosher mikvah.

54:09
Can a non-Jew man or woman fulfill the mitzvah of mikvah like the performance of Kibbutz HaVeim honoring your father and mother? A non-Jew can perform the mitzvah of honoring their father and mother. Can they also perform the mitzvah of mikvah. I don't see why not. They're not obligated to it. Um, a person can do whatever they want. A non-jew um who wants to, to dip themselves in a mikvah they call it skinny dipping out there, all right, but, um, it doesn't apply to them. It's like it's again. It's a different voltage. It's, it's, yes, it's fine. If a non-Jew goes into a mikvah, it doesn't violate the mikvah, it doesn't ruin the mikvah status, definitely not. So I don't think that would be an issue.

54:53
You mentioned the apostle rabbinic mikvah requirement for men.

54:58
Could you share the source? So the source was in the halacha that we discussed in. I believe it was simon 130 or 131 in the kids of shohanarch, when the laws where we discussed the laws of uh, rosh hashanah, or the laws of or arab yom kippur, uh, where over there it was mentioned, if possible, the reasoning behind the opinion that it may actually be obligatory. So there's no obligation for a man to use a mikvah. But because a mikvah is a place of purification, it's recommended by our sages when we're coming before Shoshana and Yom Kippur. In a time of spiritual sensitivity, spiritual closeness to Hashem, we want to remove all barriers, particularly if there's a physical barrier for a sin that we may have done with our body, that we want to cleanse that, and particularly before Shani Yom Kippur. So that would be more the reasoning behind it. But there's definitely no biblical obligation. There's no commandment in the Torah that requires a man to go to the mikvah at any period of time, except for those situations that we mentioned where someone was a tamim es or something like that.

56:10
Okay, if men's mikvahs is optional and not a obligation, shouldn't resources be better allocated to other community needs? Definitely, yeah, there are priorities in a community. For example, making sure that there is a Torah scroll, making sure that there's a mikvah for women. There are things that are more important than having a men's mikvah. Definitely, why build and maintain men's mikvahs Generally when people do that in communities? For example, many of the Hasidic communities have a men's mikvah, which is, again, they take care of it and they insure that's people. People want to do that. That's great, but it shouldn't come at the expense of feeding poor people. Okay, if someone has extra money they want to donate to that, that's great. He says I don't want to push this into the weeds.

56:58
This is question number 18 from Benjamin. Perhaps on a side note. I from Benjamin, perhaps on a side note. I've noticed English spelling of mikveh with an E-H vary. Some people spell with an A-H at the end. Some people spell it with a U-H, even though it isn't really presented this way in English print. The common pronunciation is mikveh, but it's mikveh as well. So that's a great question, benjamin. I would love, if possible I'll even turn on the microphone for everyone If everyone could just give a round of applause for Benjamin for his wonderful question. There you go, okay, all right, so thank you, benjamin. I hope I addressed all of your questions. Anybody else? One final question? We'll take one more final question.

57:39 - Ed S. (Caller)
How many gallons are 40 sheah? How many gallons are 40?

57:40 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
shi'a? How many gallons are 40 shi'a? That's a great question. Let me look that up. Give me a quick second here, in the beginning of all of the AC. I don't have it right here. I don't know. You can ask your AI. I know you like to ask your AI, but, my dear friends, this concludes episode number 22 of the Ask Away series. My dear friends, this concludes episode number 22 of the Ask Away series. My dear friends, this was such an honor, such a privilege. Gary, we didn't hear a question from you. Yeah, oh, there we go. Pass it to. Here we go, gary. Our statesman, our statesman, is here. Can you go right here, right on the other side, gary?

58:18 - Gary N. (Caller)
go for it. I'm sorry to prolong our wonderful learning session. We love this 613, commandments 365, don't 248 do Correct. Is there significance with 248 and 613? 613.

58:40 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
365, you mean 365.

58:43 - Gary N. (Caller)
Yeah, three Six, one, three, three, six five, you mean Three, six, five.

58:45 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
Yeah, where did I go wrong?

58:46 - Gary N. (Caller)
No, you said three, six, one. Okay, two, four, eight. The sequence two, four, eight is interesting. Two times four is eight, and then 613, right.

58:55 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
Total.

58:56 - Gary N. (Caller)
Is 10. And then that translates to one. So I'm thinking wait a minute one. Am I kind of going off into the weeds a little bit?

59:07 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
I like that. You never know, you might be a reincarnation of some Hasidic master from a previous life. You know because they would. I'm sure there's some secret about that and I like it. I like the way you're thinking. My dear friends, have a magnificent day. I want to welcome Alina into our class. Thank you so much for joining us One second. There's a question here from the online. Let me see. Load it up. Okay, here we go.

59:37
I believe it is impossible for us to keep Shabbos. Not being Jewish, we have slowly been trying to keep more and more mitzvot in an attempt to become closer to God and hope to convert one day. Are we going about this wrong? No, you're going about it actually correctly. You can keep the Shabbat, except for doing one violation on Shabbat. So you can go. I'm actually my wife has a very, very good story of one of their participants at their house that would come. She was in the conversion process and it was towards the end of Shabbat and she forgot to violate the Shabbat, because it says that a non-Jew is not allowed to observe the Shabbat. So she, in the middle of the third meal, she jumped out of her seat, she gave a big shriek and she ran to the bathroom, turned the light on and off, and then she came back. So you can observe everything except for that as a non-Jew, and I urge you to continue your process of growth and connection with Hashem. Okay, now continue. Should we convert and then progress? No, do your process of growth.

01:00:41
I would recommend, though, that you consider coming to be part of a community, because you cannot do this on an island. You really need part of the fabric of a Jewish life is being part of a community, and suburban Jewry did not do good for the Jewish people. That assimilated us, and we've gotten lost by that. Okay, friends of ours who are part of Houston's community converted years ago and tried to keep Shabbos, wartzitzes, hung, mzuzes, all prior to converting. I would recommend the same, but I would recommend before, if anybody's in the process of conversion, or at least thinking about the process of conversion, I would recommend that you meet with the Bet Din in advance. You meet with the Bet Din in advance, you meet with the Jewish court. That my pleasure, samuel. I would recommend that you meet with the Bet Din, which is the Jewish court for conversion, and you talk to them, you get into the process, you get accepted into the process, have a sponsor rabbi who will oversee that. You can ask questions to that. You can constantly badger with questions and that's fine. I'm telling you. I get texts frequently from people sending me, you know, different kosher symbols. Is this good, is this not good? That's fine, that's normal.

01:01:56
I want to share with you just one quick story. There was a woman. We used to have a program called Kosher Month. Part of the Kosher Month program we had something called Kosher Eaters Anonymous and there's Overeaters Anonymous. We did Kosher Eaters Anonymous and it was a support group for people who were in the process of learning about kosher. Now I had a woman lead that support group and it was an excellent idea in retrospect. Why? Because she was new. She wasn't new, but she didn't grow up kosher and she became kosher later in her life. So she was able to share a perspective that I in my entire life wouldn't have had.

01:02:35
And one of the questions that someone asked was like what am I supposed to do when I have questions? She said what do you mean? What are you supposed to do? You call the rabbi. He's like I can't bother the rabbi, the rabbi's busy. He says no, that's what the rabbi's there for and she said I have all the rabbis in Houston on my speed dial and I go one to the next to the next. He doesn't pick up, he's busy. I call the next one. And I call the next one because it's important. You have to have a rabbi that you can ask questions to.

01:03:01
As a rabbi, I'm telling you that this is a common thing, that people ask questions all the time, and that's the right thing to do. We need to ask questions because we don't always know what to do. I ask questions myself. I don't know, even though I'm a rabbi. There are times I need to ask another rabbi. What do I do in this case? I don't remember the law regarding this, the law regarding this, and that's part of the process of growth. We're always in a state of growth as Jewish people. My dear friends, yes, go for it, go for it. Go for it. Pull the microphone.

01:03:33 - Intro (Announcement)
I understand that we're in a period of, like, fasting on Mondays and Thursdays.

01:03:36 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
Monday, Thursday, Monday.

01:03:37 - Intro (Announcement)
That's correct. Can you just elaborate?

01:03:39 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
a little bit on that. Yes, okay.

01:03:41
Dietary sort of elaborate a little bit on that. Yes, okay, dietary sort of Okay, very good, okay. So there's something called Bahab Beis, hey Beis, which is Monday, thursday, monday After a holiday of the two holidays, the two main festivals of Pesach and Sukkot, because family get-togethers, you know you can get. You're sitting in the Sukkot, you're schmoozing, you're eating good food. You could have sinned by mocking other people, talking negatively about other people. You could have spoken lashon, hara, slander and therefore our sages instituted a. It's a custom. It's a custom, many people do it, many people don't do it. It's very. The truth is the halacha brings I just was learning about it this Shabbos that it's very uncommon that people do this and they fast on the Monday, thursday and Monday of the next month, which is going to be tomorrow, thursday and next Monday that people will fast. There are people who fast and they'll say special prayers for atonement for the past holiday. In case I said something wrong, case I did something wrong, but in a general rule, we should always be in a state of atonement, we should always be in a state of asking forgiveness from the Almighty. And yes, the Baha'u'llah is very good. I'm impressed that you know about it. You start at sunrise till stars out. I don't know the laws.

01:05:02
I was actually gonna look into it because I was. I going to look into it because I was interested in doing it, because I already do intermittent fasting because of dieting. So I was thinking what's the big deal? So I'll just cut out my coffee and my water if necessary. I believe that it's an actual fast. If you accept upon yourself that fast, it's an actual fast, but I'm not sure the violation of the fast would be the same as others. I'll look into it and hopefully I'll get back to you about that as well. Okay, yes, that's a great question. How do you reach the Houston Bet-In? I will talk to you after class and I will share with you the contact information for that. Carlos, you have a question. There you go. Please pass the microphone to Carlos. 77.6 gallons. Okay, that's the 47.6 gallons, okay.

01:05:49 - Gary N. (Caller)
That's not bad.

01:05:51 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
That's not too much. Yeah, it's about 80 gallons. What my beard? Why didn't I cut it off? Okay, it's a great question. So, as you know, this is my October 7th beard and this was for the hostages. And why do I still have it? The hostages were released. So first is not all the bodies were released yet. Hopefully they'll be released, but now my wife really likes it, so it's a big, you know. So it's a problem. It's a problem. I don't know what to do, but we'll see. You know, I've gotten good feedback about the beard. A lot of people like the beard, so I'll take your vote. My friends out there, you can take your vote. I'd love to hear from you. All right, one second. I'm saying if you already have a beard, just have the beard. Carlos, go for it. Final question here for this week, correct?

01:06:39 - Ed S. (Caller)
me if I'm wrong. I remember reading we can have blood, but can we have fish blood?

01:06:47 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
Okay, so fish blood be eaten. You know what? I don't know? I think it has to be rinsed. I don't know that it's salted. I don't know that fish is salted, but I think it has to be washed away. I think it's much easier for it to be cleaned in a fish than it is for a chicken. I don't know. I'll look into it. I'll get back to you right away. You have another question right there. Excellent, my dear friends, this has been awesome. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you, Ron. Have a great week everybody. I'm just reading the comments here. Yes, tefillin is powerful, and again, it's just a reminder anybody who does not have a peer of tefillin that wants a peer of tefillin. I will happily help you with one. My dear friends, have an amazing week.

01:07:20 - Intro (Announcement)
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