Everyday Judaism · Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe

00:01 - Intro (Host)
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.

00:21 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
All right, welcome back everybody. Welcome back to the Ask Away series from our Everyday Judaism podcast. We are back here at the Torch Center opening the floor to your questions. Ed, go for it, you have the mic.

00:37 - Ed (Host)
Okay, the halakha says you're not supposed to sit when you're holding the Torah. Is that only referred to when it's uncovered? Sit when it's covered. Is it when it's covered?

00:47 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
Yeah, when it's covered. That's a good question. Okay, when a Torah scroll you're talking about when the Torah scroll is at the bimah and it's covered, do we have to be standing at that time as well? The answer is no. When the Torah scroll is covered, you can sit down. You don't need to be standing. There are those who, even when it's red, are standing when it's being read. There's different opinions of whether or not it needs to be, whether it needs to be, whether you need to be standing. There are those who say there's those in halacha that say that you're required to stand when the blessing is being recited. There are those who say that you need to stand when you are when it's being read as well, not only when the blessing isited. And there are those who say that as long as it's out, you need to be standing.

01:27
The practical halacha. The bottom line halacha is that whatever one is able to do, if one is able to stand, great. If one is not able to stand, then at least the time that it's being transported should be when we stand, meaning the ark is opened. When the ark is opened, we're all standing. When the Torah is removed from the ark, we're all standing. When the Torah is carried to the bima, we're all standing. When it's placed down on the bima, then we can sit down, okay, because it's sort of like it's in its place, it's already resting. Once the Torah is lifted up with the chagba, we're all standing as well. When they're rolling it, we're standing as well. Once it's covered and the person who's holding the Torah is sitting, holding the Torah carefully, we may sit as well. So it's only at the time that it's being really transported, being moved from location to location, that we need to be standing. You have a follow-up.

02:23 - Ed (Host)
Yeah, the reason I ask that? Because after the Torah is dressed, the person holding it sits down when the other person reads the Haftorah.

02:30 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
Correct, okay, so during that time it is okay for people to be sitting.

02:33 - Ed (Host)
Next question One more question Is it okay to write, like in a book of Judges, to take notes in that book? Okay, so that's a very good question. I'll tell you I'm talking about Torah study class that somebody's always writing his notes in the book, right?

02:50 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
Okay. So very good question. There's differing opinions on this. Well, if a person is going to be look, okay, we have to understand that in the realm of dignity and holiness, it would be inappropriate for us to make our books into coloring books. So if I take my chumash and I start writing and making you know all of the, it looks like a coloring book. That may not be the most respectful way of handling my Torah book.

03:19
However, the Torah is meant to be learned. The Torah is meant to be learned. The Torah is meant to be studied and we need to deal with it in a proper way. So if a person is like in Yerushalayim and many of the students will be writing in their Talmud because they want to understand each word, so they're going to translate, because it's an ancient Aramaic text, so they want to translate each word. Make sure that they have a clear understanding so when they review it, they know exactly what it is that they're saying. So that's important for them to write in their things.

03:52
But again, a person should be very careful not to start coloring on the side and not to post make different little sketches on the side. A person has to realize that this is a very, very holy book. It's a book that's meant to uplift us and to elevate us, and not one that's supposed to be just a coloring book. So if a person is using the book for a tool for inspiration, as a tool for growth and connection with Hashem, so then yeah, so you're underlining something so that you remember this and you can review it. You know that I think there's plenty of room in halacha for one to do so. Okay, but again, a person needs to be careful that it not be used.

04:36
You know, I saw, I opened up just recently, I opened up a book that was not my book, it was in the synagogue. I opened it up and literally the entire book was underlined. Like, yeah, it's a great book, so read the whole book. What are you underlining the whole book? And it's like why the whole book was underlined. It was like great, I'm happy that the person learned it. But it was like just read the whole book, you don't need to underline the whole book. Yes, you have get the mic.

05:04 - Eliana (Host)
Does it matter? Then? If you say it's okay to write in it, does it matter if it's in pen or pencil, right?

05:13 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
I don't think it should make much of a difference if it's pen or pencil. Again, it has to be in a way that it doesn't look like, when you open up a Torah book, it looks like you scribbled all over it. It should be with dignity. It should be done in a way that's appropriate. Now it's also very common to have a notebook.

05:34
By the way, the Rambam writes in the introduction to the Yisod HaTorah.

05:39
He writes the entire transmission of the Torah from Moshe all the way to Rabbeinu HaKadosh, who's the author of the Mishnah, all the way to the sages of the Talmud, all the way to Rabbeinu HaKadosh, who's the author of the Mishnah, all the way to the sages of the Talmud, all the way to him, to Rambam himself. And he writes that Moshe had a notebook and Joshua had a notebook and all of the elders and all of the prophets and all of the sages all had notebooks, that Rabbeinu HaKadosh collected all of those notebooks and then put together the Mishnah. So it's important for us to have our notebooks and for us to take down notes, not to throw them out. Be very careful. It's very precious, very important for us to save them Now, if a person is learning a book and they want to remember something, they want to mark something again. I think there's plenty of room in halacha for that to be done in a way of dignity, in a way that it doesn't remove the holiness of the book you got to follow.

06:38 - Eliana (Host)
Is it okay if you own a book that you have not yet learned from, but you have the intention to learn from?

06:47 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
Yeah, absolutely. I have many, many, many books in my home, in my library, that I want to get to one day. I read it in the store, I looked at it, perused in it, and it's like, yeah, this looks very interesting, this is something I could probably benefit from learning, and I purchased it and I didn't get around to it yet. So that's the hope is that we get to each of those books and study them. Yeah, just the mere fact that we buy the book doesn't mean that we're going to consume it all and learn all of it in a day or two or a week or two or a year or two. Could be that it'll stay on the shelf for a while. Hopefully, we have the merit to learn all of the Torah and to know all of it and to understand it and to fulfill it all. That's our goal, that's our hope and our desire. Hashem should bless you in your journey of seeking more Torah knowledge.

07:37 - Bruce (Host)
alright, go for it correct me if I mispronounce it Geniza, geniza, that's correct. Okay, how does Geniza comport with the concept of having to bury?

07:51 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
Well, geniza is what you bury.

07:54 - Bruce (Host)
Geniz means hidden or I thought that they put it like in the attic of the old synagogues, and kept them, kept them and the the worn out text, and that the archaeologists find these uh, you know these buildings, and it's in the basement or it's in the attic, or whatever they were trying to preserve it.

08:16 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
Yeah, because it was the last copy there was. Perhaps it was. It's not like today. You have, like you know, let's take this hummus. You know how many of these were printed, hundreds of thousands.

08:26
Yeah, exactly so if this one was all worn out and the binding was falling off, so you don't need to preserve this because there's more. Today we have also the incredible technology of digital recordings of everything. So today you have online libraries and you can buy the ArtScroll. Artscroll has, by the way, an amazing thing they have an iPad. You can buy the iPad.

08:52 - Bruce (Host)
You have everything on there, it has all the Tom and all that.

08:55 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
It's amazing. It's amazing resources that we have at our fingertips today. It's unbelievable.

08:58 - Bruce (Host)
It really is unbelievable Cheap compared to buying the books. That's true. I know this from having bought the books.

09:03 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
There's only one problem with it, and that problem is you can't use it on Shabbos and Yontif. So that's a problem that you can't. You know Shabbos, yontif, you want to learn, and everything's on your digital. Like, what am I going to do now? So, yeah, so you've got to make sure that you have that ability to learn at all times. You know at all times.

09:19
But to return to your question, sometimes, like I have a special box in my house, which is the Geniza box, where when I have, let's say, my children's sitzis, strings get torn, I don't throw that out, it's a mitzvah, it's something that was used for a mitzvah. So I take it, I'll put it in the Geniza box. Every year, before Pesach, the community gets together and they dig a big hole and they bury all of the Seamus, they bury all of the things that need to be buried, all of the holy articles, artifacts that need to be buried, and they'll dig, you know, like a burial plot, and they'll put all the books in there that need to be buried, cover it up, and that's the proper disposal of it.

10:01 - Bruce (Host)
I have in my closet a box full of old books I don't know if they're valuable, I don't know if they're just old that I've inherited from various relatives being some century or so old. May I bring that to you and you?

10:19 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
can look through it and see Because they're not doing me any good. We'll do a whole discovery here at the class.

10:24
Maybe we'll do it online for our viewers online to see what each of those books are, and we'll see. Someone came over to me actually randomly and brought me a big, big, big chumash. That's from 1850. It's almost 200 years old. It's unbelievable. He said I have nothing to do with this. I got this from my mother. I said bring it. I have nothing to do with this. I got this from my mother, you know. I said bring it. I'll try to preserve it and keep it, you know. So, yeah, you know you have like now the. Actually the. Was it the Bill of Rights that the president put on display in the Oval Office just recently? Was it the Declaration of Independence? I don't know exactly what it was.

11:08 - Bruce (Host)
They had multiple copies of the Bill of Rights in the Constitution.

11:12 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
Right, so we, the people, I think the original document. But the problem is it's very sensitive to light, so they have a special curtain that they put in front of it to protect it from the light, and every once in a while, the president will show it to guests.

11:25 - Bruce (Host)
You have to remember that. You have to see the original document.

11:27 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
But and every once in a while the president will show it to guests. You have to remember that. But again, these things are very sensitive. It's written on paper that's not as advanced as the paper we have today. It's very, very delicate to light, so you've got to be careful with it and try to preserve it as best as possible.

11:40 - Bruce (Host)
The original founding documents had to be approved by the legislatures of the various states so that they have multiple copies of them and periodically someone will find oh my goodness, I found another copy in my original or my basement.

11:55 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, for sale for 50 cents. It's not recommended to put things in your attic because it is about a thousand degrees up there, so be careful.

12:04 - Bruce (Host)
And there is no basement. That's correct.

12:07 - Ed (Host)
All right, ed, just a there, so be careful. And there is no basement. That's correct. All right, ed, just a quick question. You mentioned digital copies. I've got safari on my phone. Is okay to delete that?

12:16 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
well, yes, it is okay. That's a good, actually very good question. It's a very important question. Are you allowed to delete a file that has the name of hashem on it? So that's, that's a very we can. We can talk about that. We'll get to that hopefully, hopefully in another class, and we'll have another forum to be able to discuss what you know about the spell. The name of Hashem is not allowed to be erased. So in print, definitely, but what's about in digital? It's a whole question. It's a complicated question that hopefully we'll the future. Great question. Miriam, do you want to share a question with us?

12:48 - Ed (Host)
With the anti-Semitism right now and the problems. What is the root?

12:54 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
Age old question. Very good question what is the root of anti-Semitism? Okay, so you know. We mentioned this a little bit on Friday. You may remember. The Talmud says that when the Torah descended at Sinai, hatred descended at Sinai. It's a jealousy. That's really what it boils down to. It's a jealousy of the nations of the world that they don't have.

13:13
Imagine you bought a bicycle. Imagine you bought a bicycle that has the frame, it has the wheels, it has the brakes, it has all that stuff, but you don't know how to assemble it. You don't know how to assemble it, so you call the company. You're like what's going on? How do I assemble this bicycle? I bought this bicycle. It came in a box. It was delivered from Amazon. I don't have the manual of how to set this bicycle up. I tried putting the wheels. I put the front wheel on the back, the back wheel on the front. I'm trying to figure out what I'm doing here. I have no idea. They said well, sorry. We asked who wanted the manual and only one customer said he wanted it. So we sent it to him and that's it. And only they know how to assemble it.

13:53
Life is a lot more complicated. Life is a lot more complicated than a bicycle. Okay, and the Jewish people? God offered the nations of the world the manual. You want to know how to raise children? You want to know how to have a beautiful, fruitful life? You want to know how to maximize your relationship with God? The entire world wants those answers. But they didn't say yes when God offered it, so they didn't get a copy of it. And now they're upset. They're upset that at us.

14:25
You guys have the manual. Why don't we have it? We want it too. We want to be the chosen nation. We're the chosen nation because we chose God. Right now, we don't stick it to them in their face and say, ah, we're the chosen nation, Ah you. On the contrary, we're more obligated because of that to be more committed to the work of the Almighty. We're obligated to share that wisdom with the world. Now we don't go out and proselytize and we don't go out and missionize. We don't do all that. That's not part of the Torah, that's not a part of our responsibility. But it is our responsibility to engage the world with the idea of God, to engage the world with the idea of responsibility.

15:12
And sadly, we find that many Jews have taken that responsibility the wrong way. You look at many of the universities instead of pushing people to be more responsible, they're giving answers why people are not responsible for their actions and they're letting the agitators do their terrible things and not allowing Jewish students to get to their classes and harassing Jewish students in Columbia, in Harvard, in all of these other universities, because they're like it's all in the name of acceptance, all in the name of tolerance, all of the name, and it's all flawed. That's not what the Torah says. The Torah says there is accountability and there is responsibility. So again, it's people who, sadly, people who are of higher education, who have, sadly, a diminished education and a minimal education of Judaism, of true understanding of Judaism. So a lot of it is us doing harm to ourselves. A lot of it is the nations of the world holding us accountable for not fulfilling our responsibilities.

16:10
But ultimately, that is in a nutshell. We can spend days and years talking about anti-Semitism and if you look through the history, you'll see that when the Jewish people took the responsibility of their Jewishness seriously, took the responsibility of their Jewishness seriously, we didn't have problems from the Gentiles, from the nations of the world. We didn't have those issues when we ran away from those responsibilities. That's when they upped the anti-Semitism. So that's a very good question, Very important question. Exactly, Intolerance is in the name of tolerance, that's correct. Yeah, Carlosance is in the name of tolerance, that's correct. Yeah, Carlos, go for it, Get the microphone.

16:50 - Ed (Host)
Putting a book from greatest to least is only when it's laying down on the table right, Not on the bookshelf Right.

16:57 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
Correct. So when they're laying one on top of the other, typically you put the most important on top Right, and that's the way we do it. But in the books here in the bookshelf, you do it in the order that I guess, in the order that you need. I typically try to organize my books by you know, the Bible, the biblical, the Tanakh, the prophets, the writings. I try to divide them all in different categories like that. But I don't think there should be, I don't think there needs to be in that sense, like the top shelf is the chumash, the next shelf is the. I don't think that needs to be that way, but I don't think there's an obligation to do that. It's when one is laid on top of the other. That's where its prominence is being displayed.

17:39
All right, any other questions? All right, it's a wrap, my dear friends. Thank you, have a magnificent week. I appreciate it so much. My dear friends, if you have questions, don't forget to ask your questions at askaway at torchweborg. We look forward to addressing your questions in future episodes. Thank you so much for joining us. Thank you so much for being here. Have a magnificent week.

18:02 - Intro (Host)
You've been listening to Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe on a podcast produced by TORCH, the Torah Outreach Resource Center of Houston. Please help sponsor an episode so we can continue to produce more quality Jewish content for our listeners around the globe. Please visit torchweb.org to donate and partner with us on this incredible endeavor.