Yom Kippur and Sukkot

Q: What is the connection between Yom Kippur and Sukkot?

A: Yom Kippur is akin to death.

We dress in white, like the dead. Like them, we do not eat. Like the dead, we abstain from sexual relations. As we sit in the synagogue for the better part of the day, no sales are rung up on the register. Economically, the day is total waste.  Withdrawing from the world to pray and seek redemption and wholeness, it is as if we do not exist.

If Yom Kippur is death, Sukkot is the antithesis; it means life. Coming out of the Day of Atonement we drive the first nail into the Sukkah symbolizing our re-entry into the world.  The mitzvah is immediate.  Some communities do not consider Yom Kippur to be truly ended until the first piece if lumber has been placed for the construction of the Sukkah after the shofar has sounded.

What does the Jew explain when he does something for the first time? The shechechiyanu course. But we do not. Not this time.

Silently, the wood is hold up from the shed as we begin to construct a new universe.  The shechechiyanu is withheld until the first moment we enter the shaky little structure on the festival of Sukkot.

Like life itself, it takes time to emerge from the grip of death.

Kosher

Q: What is the difference between kosher and non-kosher meat?

A:  Shechita is Jewish ritual slaughter, and is done to cause the animal minimal pain and suffering and maximum respect.  Shechita can only be performed by a shochet, a highly qualified and skilled professional. Years of training precede the shochet’s entry into his vocation.

The animal to be slaughtered must be found to be free of disease, affection and even malformations. Further, any beast which is nevelah (dies of natural causes) or trafe (torn by another animal) is considered unfit for consumption. Animals hunted or trapped (and injured in the process) are also unfit.  Shot with a bullet or arrow or caught in a trap the animal suffers pain and trauma making it unfit for eating.  This is not the Jewish way.  Only animals killed in accordance with Law are deemed acceptable for food.

A shochet’s responsibility, besides slaughtering, is to inspect the internal organs to ensure they are not diseased.  The shochet must be a learned and pious individual.  In contrast, the U.S. slaughterhouses are factories.

As the shochet prepares for his task, he recites a blessing as a vivid reminder that flesh is a gift given by God and not to be taken thoughtlessly, without concern.

During the actual slaughter, the shochet must draw a perfect blade; there can be no knicks or scrapes in the metallic blade.  The knife is then wielded to severe the carotid artery.  The swift action renders the animal insensible to pain. 

Finally, the blood of the animal is removed along with the veins and arteries carrying the life source and from the heart.  The flesh is salted and rinsed to remove every vestige of blood.

There are, of course, other differences between kosher and non-kosher meat but this is a quick review of the primary divisions.  Underlying the entire process of shechita is the principle of tsa’ar ba’alei hayim, being mindful of the suffering that we cause to God’s creatures.

Yissakhar?

In the Torah one of the children of Jacob is called Yissachar. How was that name pronounced in Hebrew? Yissakhar or Yissasskhar?

Good question. In the Torah the name is written as Yissasskhar. Yet many people pronounce the name without the additional “sin” [s]. If the name is pronounced differently than spelled it would be a major problem for us.  There are instances where words are vocalized differently than they are written.

Sephardim have reckoned with that the universal pronunciation of the name is Yissakhar. In the Ashkenazic world however opinions are divided. There are those who say that the first time the name occurs in Genesis, the double consonant if pronounced.  All other times the second “sin” is ignored.  Others indicate that the pronunciation must always be the same, Yissasskhar.

Our usual, most normative, practice is to pronounce the name as Yissakhar.

Multiple Scrolls

Q:  Why do we use and read from more than one Torah on Shabbat?

A: We use two (sometimes three) Torahs on occasions when they coincide with holy days or specific calendar events when we read from two entirely different Torah portions.  Examples are Rosh Hodesh (New Moon), the weeks that lead up to Pesach as they demarcate specific remembrances, Shavuot, Hanukkah, etc..  

The reason we read from different scrolls, and not just roll the same one backward or forward is because of the principle of Kavod Tzibbur (the dignity of the congregation).  It would seem disrespectful to make the congregation wait while the Torah was shifted from place to place.

On Kashrut

A word about dishes.

The primary criterion for kashrut in serving dishes is the taste, which may be imparted to foods in preparation or to be prepared. That is, where there is the chance that the flavor of trafe could be tasted, the plate and food are forbidden. The principal, notaine ta’am ligam, denotes the sense of taste.

Since cold dishes do not impart the flavor of what was on them previously (unless the dish was not properly cleaned with soap and water, hot enough to scald, or if the plate has a noxious odor due to some lasting effect like rotting milk or rancid meat) cold, raw foods may be eaten on them.  Kosher dishes are always preferred but not required.

In regard to hot foods, the law is more stringent. Hot foods or the heating processes that make them hot will make both the food and dish more susceptible to the dictum of notaine ta’am ligam.  Heating opens pores and allows smell and flavor to seep through. Therefore, hot kosher food must always be served on dishes that are kosher.

Now to the question of what is a kosher dish. Any unused, new dish qualifies as a kosher dish (I have yet to hear of a plate made from pork rinds).  A more critical issue is the process of correcting a wayward plate.  Earthenware, including glazed, and plastics of any kind are impossible to kasher. They can never be used for hot kosher foods. Burying them, scalding them are of no avail. On the other hand, we find glass and metal which are both relatively non-porous and therefore easily kashered. In both instances they may be boiled thoroughly.  Is danger of the glass cracking, it can be thoroughly cleaned and run through the dishwasher, with nothing else at the same time, on the highest cycle.

Where the Halacha is less clear concerns other kinds of materials such as Pyrex and China. Opinions on them differ. And accepted position on the subject is that Pyrex is akin to glass and therefore kasherable.  China maybe thoroughly cleaned and then put away in a closet for a full year. At the end of that time they may be used.

Incidentally, it is not appropriate to use glass dishes for both milk and meat.

Four Cups

Q: Why do we drink four cups of wine on Pesach?

A: Four is a number that reappears throughout the seder.  There are four sons, four cups, four questions, four exiles, four sections of the Haggadda…

It might well be asked why this number is repeated time and again.

In the Exodus story, God promises four different times in four different modes, to free the Children of Israel.  The first time it occurs, God states, “I will bring you out…”.  This first redemption is a physical one as we are freed from slavery.  The second occurrence, “I will deliver you,” refers to a future ingathering in the land of Israel.  The third promise is “I will redeem you.”  No matter the obstacle, the Jewish people will survive.  Many forces will attack the newly freed Israelites but they emerge.  Finally, “I will take you to Me as My people,” is the binding covenant that was assured at Sinai.

Mikveh

Q: What are the purposes of a Mikveh?

A: A mikveh, or gathering of water, is used for many functions. The essential elements uniting all the uses of the mikveh is that it cleanses, purifies. As a means of ridding oneself of a ritual impurity, a person what immerse himself in the Mikveh to become spiritually pure.

The Mikveh is used for conversions (potential converts go into the waters as an act of purification) before weddings (to spiritually prepare for the new union) prior to Jewish holidays, after menstrual cycles, for spiritual moments with God and after contact with the dead.