Three notes on Shaving and Sfira

During Nissan, we mourn the 24 thousand, not the 6 million: I expect all of you who wrote in yesterday to say that outward signs of mourning are absolutely, totally, and completely forbidden during Nisan have been shaving. You'd be surprised how many of my RW friends unreflectivly give that particular objection to Yom Hashoa even as they scratch at their stubble.

The Beadle, my British buddy, said this: My Rav mentioned this morning that there is no halacha explicitly stating its forbidden to shave during the Omer. I asked him why most frum people don’t do so then, to which he replied that it’s the most noticeable and easiest way to show how frum you are, even if it’s entirely unnecessary. In other words, it is a temporary extension of the black hat.

Naturally, his remarks offend me deeply.

On Friday, don't forget to shave: Men, women, and children are reminded that if they shave for work during the week, they are supposed to shave for shabos as well. Says Aaron Lichtenstein, the Harvard alum who serves as Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Har Etzion, "kevod Shabbat takes precedence over mourning customs of the Omer (based on Ta'anit 26b), [therefore] it is not only permissible, but obligatory to shave before Shabbat."

Harry's Howler

In an otherwise okay post arguing that Yom Hashoah protests are rude and worse Harry says: "Whether this day should forever remain the day of observance is a question for posterity. I should not be debated now. Perhaps someday it can be folded into Tisha B’Av along with all other tragedies that befell us"

Uh Harry? All the other tragedies are folded into Tisha Ba'av? You mean like the...

- Loss of Jewish sovreingnty (Tzom Gedalya)
- Loss of Rabbi Akiva's school (Sfira)
- Crusades (Sfira)
- The murder of 34 Jewish men and 17 Jewish women in Blois France, 1171, as a result of the first ritual-murder trial in Europe. Rabbeinu Tam declared a fast day to mark the event. (Kaf Sivan)
- Chelmniki (Kaf Sivan)
- The Monsey chicken disaster (a day of fasting was declared)

And this is just the short list. Jews in every generation have declared the days of fasting, repentance and remeberance. The idea that all tragedies are folded into Tisha B'av is belied by the actual behavior of real Jews.

LBO Mini Meme

The Rachmestrifka Rebbe's Gabbe (ie Krum) wants me to name the first song I listened to today (note to the uninitiated: Orthodox Jews have been avoiding music for the last 33 days as part of our sefira mourning)

The first song I heard this morning was that insipid tune from the Curious George movie. It was playing on the radio when I got into the car. It's been way more than 33 days since I cued a song on my CD or tape-player; for music I prefer the randomness of Jack FM or QXR.

I tag CousinOliver, RenReb, CWY, and HNC

It's sfira. You're not allowed to laugh?

This post was pure antisemitism. I am surprised that you would provide a platform for it, DB.
S.
I dont see that. What was Israels intention if not a place for Jews? This is the same thing.

I love talking about my fellow Jews and how they should be kicked out of our country for not following the lifestyle I choose...Go Ahavas Israel! Go Cousin Oliver and his feeling of inadequecy with his own Judaism which makes him want to take out his hatred on other Jews! Yay!
DQB
Daniel Q Blog
I didn't say they should be kicked out (ok, except for the title and the last sentence which were done to be amusing).
I didn't say any opinion relating to them having or not having my lifestyle.
I never ever said I hated another Jew at all.

I think the post explains something that would be super benificial for all parties involved. They can govern themselves without US intervention and deal with their ups and downs as they see fit.

These people are all ready doing it within the US. Im just eleminating the harships they face with our government. Its a win-win.

[DB here, and I think those of you who saw anti-semitism in Oliver's post were shooting from the hip. He wasn't advocating for Jews to be expelled from this country. He was only asking why communities like Square and KJ haven't taken the next logical step. They wish to be alone, so be alone: Buy an island, and live happily, secure in the knowledge that the tumah and contamination you disdain is no longer down the road and over the next hill, but a boat ride away. I do concede that his title, as noted, was awful, and Oliver has been severely reprimanded.]

Why we mourn during s'fira (and not on Yom Hashoa)

It's a source of puzzlement. We mourn 33 days for 24,000 people who died 2000 years ago, but the 6 million who died 60 years ago are lumped together with the millions of others who died in pogroms, crusades and other acts of persecution and remembered on 9 Av.

There are two PC (patently charedi) answers to this question, and neither is satisfactory.

First bogus answer: We don't mourn in Nissan. Really? Tell that to all the unshaven men running around. Fact is we do mourn in Nissan, by observing sefira. Also, we say Yizkor on the 8th day of Pesach (also in Nissan) as well as all the other Jewish holidays. If it's possible to say Yizkor on holidays (holidays that fall in Nissan even) how can it be impossible to hold a remeberance ceremony?

Second bogus answer: Tisha B'Av is the day of mourning for the Jewish people. Really? So why aren't the students of Rabbi Akiva remembered on 9 Av? Why do the 24,000 of them get 33 days, while the other 10s of millions of Jews who were murdered over the years all share the same one day?

The real answer, my friends, is simple. We aren't slighting the Holocaust victims when we commemorate the deaths of Rabbi Akiva's students for 33 days, because the custom of mourning during s'fira originally had nothing to do with them! You'll note, for instance, that the Talmud describes the plaugue which killed them (Yevamot 62b) but says nothing about 33 days of universal mourning. In fact, this practice did not exist for the first 1000 years after their death. A Jew living in the year 600 for example viewed the days between Pesach and Shaviot as a happy time. Not until the Middle Ages, do we encounter Jews observing mourning rituals during sefira.

During the Middle Ages, the days after Pesach were a time of great peril. This was the season for blood libels, pogroms and general military campaigning like the Crusades which sluaghtered the Jews of the Rhineland in May of 1096. As a result, it became ordinary for Jews to be in mourning during the weeks after Pesach, so ordinary, in fact, that the Rabbis of the Middle Ages became convinced that there was somethng inherently harsh about the days between Pesach and Shavuot. The fact that Rabbi Akiva lost 24,000 students during the same period confirmed the judgement, but it was not the impetus for establishing the customs.

[Who agrees with me? Samson Rephael Hirsh in Horeb and Yichiel Michel Epstein in the Aruch HaShulchan among others.]

Sidenote: Though I've argued here that the mourning customs came into being long after the students of Rabbi Akiva had died, it's interesting to note that some say the customs are of earlier origon. May was considered an unlucky month from early Roman times at least and as a result Romans had a custom of not marrying in May.

New memorial opens / Additional shots over Toby Katz's bow

The new Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, designed by Peter Eisenman, has opened in Berlin. (Read the Times review)

If you're one of our very good friends from the right, who would prefer not to be reminded of the Holocaust during Nissan (the happiest month of the year (TM)) please avert your eyes. (While you're at it, you may also wish to avert your eyes from the sfira beard you're growing to commemorate the 24,000 dead students of Rabbi Akiva.

Oh, and as you avert your eyes, try not to think too much about these other annoying and inconvinient facts:

(1) We mourn 33 days for Rabbi Akiva's 24,000 students, but not one for the 6 million Holocaust victims

(2) 14 of those 33 days are in Nissan (the happiest month of the year (TM))

Finally, this reminder: Rabbi Akiva's students died, the Talmud asserts, because they didn't respect one another. For a representative illustration of the authentic, Torah-True-way of respecting others, as you mourn, in Nissan, for those 24,000 students, please consult this essay.

Yom Hashoa: How they dropped the ball

I have a healthy respect for the early Zionists, but they made at least two mistakes that resonate in our day:

1 - Yom Hashoa should be on 10 Tevet, and certainly not in Nissan.

2 - Yom Haatzmaut should be on Lag B'omer, but certainly not during Sfira.

Had they combined their new holidays with our old holidays, Jews the world-over would be able to mourn and celebrate together. And it isn't like there's no precedant for this sort of thing. Our crafty ancestors used this trick when they sabatoged Nicanor Day, and replaced it with Tannis Esther.

It's been suggested by David Williams, an expert on ancient Israel at the University of Georgia, that it was King John Hyrcanus, a descendant of the Maccabees, who shoved Nicanor Day aside in favor of Purim. Why? "Perhaps to deflect attention from Judah's victory to his own time. Or he wanted a wider celebration.''

A wider celebration. If only the early Zionists had thought along those lines.