Selichot

Q: Why do we observe selichot a t midnight?

A:  Selichot is a special sacred prayer that is a prelude to the High Holy Days.  While other observances are constructed around daylight hours or immediately after the sun has set, this one is the exception.  Selichot.

Although there are the times of the year when studies conducted throughout the night, Shavuot for example, Selichot is the only service when we stay up, or get up, for a brief service the Saturday evening proceeding Rosh Hashanah.

Selichot is not truly midnight. The midpoint of the night actually comes around 1 AM. The fact is we simply rise at night to say special penitential prayers prior to the advent of the High Holy Days. When we are least apt to become distracted by outside noises or physical responsibilities we rankle our customary habits and begin an earnest quest for repentance.

The idea of rising at midnight is taken from Psalms where it is reported that David said, “At midnight I rise to praise you.”

Fasting

Q: What is the Jewish attitude to fasting?

A: There are three types of fasting in our faith.  The first is a universally observed public fast.  This universal kind of fast is limited to two days, Yom Kippur and Tisha B’Av.  Smaller, more limited but still universal fasts are the 17^th of Tammuz , the Fast of Esther and Tzom Gedaliah.  They are lesser known and limited to fasting only during the daylight hours.   These days of fasting are for the purpose of remembering terrible events of our past with the hope that we will modify our behavior in the present.

The second type of communal fast (taanit tzibbut) is one that is called when a community is threatened by some calamity.  In the past when the Jewish community was confronted by enemies or some natural disaster, the entire community would refrain form eating in order to avert the evil decree.  In England, years ago, there was a series of terrible events  in a small town.  Fear gripped the community.  The rabbis then declared a public fast to assuage any negative judgment from on High.

The third and final type of fast involves a single person (taanit yahid). Some people have the custom of fasting on the yahrzeit of a parent’s death.  The reason for this act of self denial is to repent for sinfulness. Instead of dwelling on feelings of guilt, the person seeks to rid himself of the negative behavior through the fast. There are yet others will deny themselves food and drink as an aesthetic exercise. Those who follow this rationale, do so to gain greater self mastery. 

All the self-appointed fasts can never fall on holy days or the Sabbath when eating and drinking is a mitzvah. As  Yehudah Ha-Levi wrote, “ to enjoy good food and drink on the Sabbath and festivals is as pleasing to God as to deny oneself them on a fast day.”

Moses

Q: Why is Moses called Moshe Rabbenu?

A:  Biblical heroes who rose to leadership roles during their lives were each given titles suitable for the role they fulfilled.  Thus we call Abraham Isaac and Jacob -- the founders of Judaism -- patriarchs. Similarly, their counterparts, instrumental in creating the Jewish lifestyle we term matriarchs.

Joseph is called “ha-tzaddik” because of his ability to overcome temptation and righteousness. You recall that Joseph grew up in a prosperous Egypt as vizier to the Pharaoh. Still, he never forgot his roots. He never neglected the cause and needs of his people. Another test he successfully transcended was when Potiphar’s wife tempted him and he turned away.

Moses was a great teacher of Torah. He expounded the Law to the people and helped create the apparatus for interpreting the Holy One’s will.  A teacher par excellence, Moses is called Rabbenu, which means “our teacher.”

The Middle Letter

Q: Why is there a large letter in the sidra of Shmini?

A: In that parasha, Shmini, the letter “vav” in the word “gachon” is enlarged.  Marginal note tells us that it is written in large print because it is the middle letter in the entire. How many letters are in the Torah?

It is a most difficult task to count all the letters of the Torah.  Not only are they many, but there are some without vowel indications (like vovs) and others that are whole.  This could mean that the letters in our Torah may not be the same number as the original letters in the first Torah. Transmission errors and duplications have made the process of counting letters most difficult.

According to the Masoretic note, there are 600,805 letters in our sefer Torah.  The veracity of the number is debatable.

Rice on Pesach

Q: Why do some Jews eat rice on Passover?

A: Sephardim or oriental Jews will eat rice while those of us from Ashkenazic lines do not.

In the Middle Ages, European Jewry adopted the practice of burning rice on Pesach as your precautionary measure. Since rice strongly resembles other types of forbidden grains, people might be tempted to consume them. 

And in a fermented state, the consumption of wheat or other grains during Pesach would abrogate the Law.

It is not appropriate for Ashkenazic Jews to eat rice on Pesach in the custom of their ancestors. For him, rice is hametz.

Historically, it has been suggested that the Sephardim, dependent upon price as a dietary staple, could not afford to dispense with it. Since the law does not directly prohibit rice, the Sephardim maintained it was halachically acceptable. Ashkenazic Jewry, on the other hand, never depended upon rice.

Of late there have been challenges to this Law. Many notable figures have posited that it may be time for a shift in the law now that the boundaries of Ashkenazim and Sephardim are more blurred and the likelihood of one grain with another is small.