המעין

Table of Contents
Commanded Lamp, Pillar of Flame and Pillar of Cloud / The Editor…………………….3
Enumeration from the Creation of the World and the Beginning of Its Use /
Rav Dr. Shai Walter………………………………………………………………….5
The Importance of the Novellae of Maimonides' Students / Adiel Breuer……..…………20
Principles of Omission of Laws from the Mishneh Torah [Code]
of Maimonides / Rav Ezra Brand…………………………………………………..31
The Rule Concerning Sterilization of a Woman: Textual Variants in the
Tosefta as a Source for Maimonides' Ruling / Rav Aryeh Katz…………………55
Two Comments on the Remarks of Rav Chaim of Brisk on Maimonides'
Laws of Prayer / Rav Maor Tiferet…………………………………………………61
The First El Male Rachamim Prayer in Memory of Shoah [Holocaust]
Martyrs / Dr. Mordechai Meir………………………………………………………..65
"Light and Shadow and the Sea Surrounded Her" - Elucidations in the
Struggle of Our Master Rav Kook ZT"L to Correct the Character of
Purim Celebrations in Tel-Aviv and in the Yishuv haHadash [New
(non-traditionalist) Communities] / Rav Shaul Bar-Ilan…………………………..68
Memorial
Laws and Practices in the Environs of Rav Menachem Mendel Mendelson
ZT"L, Rav of the Moshav Komemiyut / Rav Mordechai Emanuel………………84
Responses and Comments
Further to the Matter of Absorption and Extraction in Utensils /
Rav Yaakov Ariel; Neriah Glick; Rav Dr. Dror Fixler; Rav Dr.
Yisrael Meir Levinger………………………………………………………………..90
Interesting Information about Our Master the Chatam Sofer as a
Yeshiva Student / Rav Nosson Dovid Rabinowich………………………………98
What is Considered 'the Torah of the Land of Israel'? / Itiel Amitai…………………….99
From the Shemittah [Sabbatical] of 5768 to the Shemittah of 5775 /
Moshe Oren………………………………………………………………………….102
Editorial Review of Recent Torani Publications / Rav Yoel Catane…………………….104

Abstracts
The Editor: Commanded Lamp, Pillar of Flame and Pillar of Cloud
The issue opens with the remarks of the editor, Rav Yoel Catane, who makes mention of the relationship between the pillar of cloud which went before the Israelite camp for forty years, Operation Pillar of Cloud which just ended in a sort of extremely uneasy stalemate between the State of Israel and the terrorists in Gaza, and the Hanukkah lamps which put us in mind of miracles then and now. In addition, he notes that with the completion of 808 years since the passing of Maimonides in the month of Tevet at the end of 1204, four articles are gathered in this issue dealing with him and his students and his magnum opus Mishneh Torah, in addition to other important articles which follow.

Rav Dr. Shai Walter: Enumeration from the Creation of the World and the Beginning of Its Use
Rav Dr. Shai Walter, director of the Abraham and Ruth Drazin Institute for Kiddush Hachodesh and Ibur Hashana Studies at Yeshivat Kerem B'Yavneh, deals in the opening article of this issue with the practice of counting the current year from the creation of the world, which is the predominant method currently employed by the Jewish people. Rav Yehudah haLevi in the Kuzari thought this method of enumeration was long in use, but from examining the historical sources it appears that this count gained acceptance at a relatively late period. In the article, the first sources which mention enumeration from the creation of the world are presented, likewise the way in which this count was accepted is discussed, and brief mention is made of additional questions connected to anno mundi [year of the world]: the disagreement between residents of the land of Israel and residents of Babylonia, the problem of the chronology of the Second Temple Period, and more.
Adiel Breuer: The Importance of the Novellae of Maimonides' Students
Recent times have seen the discovery and publication of novellae on the Talmud and the Rif [digest of Talmudic discussions by R. Isaac ben Jacob Alfasi] by Maimonides and his circle. Latent within these novellae are many solutions to difficulties raised throughout the generations about the wording of Maimonides, in light of which one can go back and examine the previous answers offered over the years, and thereby learn the correct approach to resolving difficulties in Maimonides. The straightforward approach, in general, is to preserve the plain sense of Maimonides' wording, and to try to plumb the depths of his understanding attempting to discern how he parsed the gemara, or what reading he had in its text. On one occasion, one of his students wrote that Maimonides corrected the text of the gemara based upon his understanding, and even codified his correction in the Mishneh Torah, an unfamiliar phenomenon in his bet midrash [study hall]. Adiel Breuer, fellow of Yeshivat Torat haChaim in Yad Binyamin (formerly in Gush Katif) cites a full listing of works in which novellae of Maimonides' students and circle appear, and presents some examples of new explanations of Mishneh Torah which can be drawn from them. From here a call issues forth to those who study Torah to look into these novellae and attempt to trace correct answers in Maimonides' words and approach to learning.

Rav Ezra Brand: Principles of Omission of Laws from the Mishneh Torah of Maimonides
Maimonides in the introduction to his monumental Mishneh Torah (literally “Repetition of the Torah”) promises to include all laws mentioned in previous authoritative sources - Mishnah, Tosefta, Babylonian Talmud, Jerusalem Talmud, Sifra, and Sifrei. Maimonides goes so far as to say that after reading the Hebrew Bible and Maimonides' own Mishneh Torah, no other work is necessary to know the Oral Law. Because of this somewhat astonishing guarantee of comprehensiveness, commentators of the Mishneh Torah frequently question why Maimonides does not mention this or that law which is mentioned in one of authoritative sources Maimonides promises to encompass. These commentators extrapolate rules that Maimonides used to judge what he would include in his Mishneh Torah, which Maimonides implicitly used when composing this work. Rav Ezra Brand, a student in Yeshivat Mir in Jerusalem, attempts to assemble as many of these rules offered by the commentators as he can find, based on some recent works that collect general rules (“k`lalim”) regarding Mishneh Torah. He divides these rules into two categories: those that say that Maimonides left out laws because of something extrinsic to the actual law under discussion, on the one hand, and those that say that he left them out because of something intrinsic, on the other hand. Each rule is discussed in depth in the footnotes, collating and analyzing many sources. The article ends with the following question concerning many of the rules suggested by the commentators: How do these rules fit with the aforementioned statement of Maimonides that he will include all laws from previous sources, which we said was the basis for asking these “questions of omission” in the first place?

Rav Aryeh Katz: The Rule Concerning Sterilization of a Woman: Textual Variants in the Tosefta as a Source for Maimonides' Ruling
Rav Aryeh Katz, graduate of  the yeshivot of Shaalvim and Mercaz HaRav, judge in Rabbinic Civil Court and a responding Rav in the Puah Institute, describes the disagreement between the Maggid Mishneh [R. Vidal of Tolosa] commentary on Maimonides' Code and the Gr"a [R. Elijah of Vilna] as to how to explain Maimonides' opinion in the rule concerning sterilization of a woman: does it deal with a rabbinic prohibition, or with a Torah prohibition not liable to punishment? The article cites a reading of the Tosefta [supplements to the Mishnaic code] found in some manuscripts, contrary to our printed texts, according to which the tannaitic disagreement concerning the rule of sterilizing a woman depends upon the tannaitic disagreement whether a woman is commanded to bear children. According to this explanation, since the disagreement is decided in favor of the view that a woman is not obligated by the command to bear children, we are forced to hold that there is no Torah prohibition to sterilize a woman, like the view of the Maggid Mishneh. This line of reasoning is reinforced in light of an additional source in the Tosefta according to which the view that sterilizing a woman is a Torah prohibition also holds that it is punishable, while the view which holds that one who castrates a woman is not subject to lashes is itself the view of the tanna [Mishnaic authority] who holds that there is no Torah prohibition to sterilize a woman.

Rav Maor Tiferet: Two Comments on the Remarks of Rav Chaim of Brisk on Maimonides' Laws of Prayer
In his work on Maimonides' Code, Rav Chaim Soloveitchik postulates the existence of two types of awareness during [the statutory] prayer [Shemoneh Esre – Eighteen Blessings]: awareness of the meaning of the words, necessary only in the first blessing, and a second awareness of 'standing before Gd', necessary throughout the prayer, so that blessings recited without this awareness are as if they were not recited, for in such a case the person praying is considered to be mit'asek [acting unintentionally], since the action he performs unintentionally has no meaning. Rav S. Z. Auerbach questions this from the rule of one who recites the Shema [obligatory affirmation of faith] as a mit'asek who is ruled in the Talmud and posekim [decisors] to have fulfilled his obligation since stama lishma [his undefined act is assumed to have been intentional]! Rav Tiferet proves from the Talmud in Tractate Shabbat that Rav Chaim's statement that one who prays without awareness does not fulfill his obligation is a rule specific to the rules of prayer. A second comment of Rav Tiferet concerns the definition of prayer as the apex of 'knowing Gd' according to the approach of Rav Chaim of Brisk, similar to the remarks of Rav Kook in the introductory chapters of Olat R'iyah about prayer, that it is the apex of constant d'veikut [cleaving] of the soul to Gd.

Dr. Mordechai Meir: The First El Male Rachamim Prayer in Memory of Shoah Martyrs
Dr. Meir, a Sha`alvim Alumnus, who conducts research in the fields of prayer and of the Shoah, draws our attention to a unique gathering  held in the summer of 1946 in Warsaw in honor of Chief Rabbi Herzog ZT"L who was in the midst of his 'rescue mission' in Poland, in the course of which he returned to the Jewish people hundreds of children who had been hidden in monasteries, and encouraged surviving refugees to return to their Judaism and to immigrate to Israel. For the purpose of this gathering, Rav Herzog authored a special version of the standard El Male Rachamim [memorial] prayer in memory of the martyrs of the Shoah, and Dr. Meir discusses it, its wording and its details.

Rav Shaul Bar-Ilan: "Light and Shadow and the Sea Surrounded Her" - Elucidations in the Struggle of Our Master Rav Kook ZT"L to Correct the Character of Purim Celebrations in Tel-Aviv and in the Yishuv haHadash
The public which did not know Rav Kook ZT"L up close is familiar with the 'written' Rav Kook – angel from on high who combines brilliance and holiness and enormus ability. However, his contemporaries living in the Land were familiar with the 'oral' Rav Kook: the Rabbi who shepherds his flock and the teacher who offers guidance to groups and individuals in days of calm and days of storm. The article written by Rav Shaul Bar-Ilan, Esq. of Rehovot, is meant to illuminate these facets of Rav Kook and their internal dynamic. Among other things, throughout the entire period that he was a Rabbi in the Land, he was forced to contend with theatrical appearances in which women appeared together with men, principally on Purim. And it becomes evident that Rav Kook turns to the residents of Rehovot with both style and content different than that with which he appeals to residents of Rishon leZion, yet another style he addresses to residents of Tel-Aviv and still another style to residents of Petah Tiqvah! The article depicts the extremely close relationship which held sway between the leadership of the communities of Jaffa and Tel-Aviv, and the ties which continued even after Rav Kook rose to serve in the Jerusalem Rabbinate, and indeed until his passing in 1935. This great affection of the leaders of Tel-Aviv for Rav Kook brought them to accede to his request in 1930, and in the face of broad public protest, to do away with the ceremonial choosing of a beauty queen which had been the highlight of the Purim festivities in that era in the city of Tel-Aviv.

Memorial
In the Memorials section, Rav Mordechai Emanuel eulogizes his older friend Rav Mendelson ZT"L who was the Rav of the Komemiyut haredi [pietist] agricultural settlement until he passed away suddenly last year. Rav Emanuel describes seven halakhic topics concerning laws dependent upon the Land of Israel which he discussed with the late Rav ZT"L.

Responses and Comments
In the 'Responses and Comments' section, a lively debate has arisen regarding the article published in the last HaMa'yan by Rav Dr. Yisrael Meir Levinger, formerly Rav of Basel, Switzerland and expert in the laws of kashrut, concerning the possibility of scientifically examining the absorption and extraction of utensils for the purpose of establishing rules of kashrut. Rav Yaakov Ariel, Rav of Ramat Gan, Neriah Glick, fellow of Yeshivat Torat Chaim in Yad Binyamin and Rav Dr. Dror Fixler, communal Rabbi and lecturer in physics, discuss Rav Levinger's remarks, and he responds to them. Rav Rabinowich, Rosh Yeshiva [Principal] and researcher from the US, relates a new detail of the life of our teacher the Chatam Sofer [R. Moses Schreiber] in his youth, which came to light in a recently published manuscript. Itiel Amitai of Rehovot discusses the article on the book entitled Sefer ‘P'ninei [Pearls of] Halakhah’ [on] B'rachot, Harchavot [Elaborations], published in the previous issue, in which Yitzchak Shizgal of Yeshivat Petah Tiqvah tries to ascribe to its author – Rav Eliezer Melamed of the settlement of Brakha in Samaria – a line of p'sak halachah [legal decision making] which he asserts is typical of 'the Torah of the Land of Israel' which line involves minimizing the use of the principle of 'questionable blessings should not be recited', reducing divisions between customs of different communities, and so forth. In his response, Rav Amitai claims that this line of p'sak is not specific to Israel alone, and that relative popularity of Rav Melamed's works should be attributed to their being directed with great skill towards an extremely focused segment of the population, which seeks clear decisions stated in clear, contemporary language.
Finally, Moshe Oren, member of Kibbutz Shaalvim and a veteran activist in the cause of observing Shemittah according to halakhah, tells us about the most recent Shemittah (of 2008), characterized by a great expansion in distributing fruit within the framework of various otzarot bet din [court storehouses] – and this was an excellent development – however, surpluses remained in warehouses due to lack of demand on the part of potential consumers from the haredi [pietist] community, who did not see in the 'otzar bet din' a sufficiently 'elegant' halakhic solution, a situation which gave rise to great losses among farmers. He suggests, with the approach of Shemittah 2015, expansion of activities and of distribution of otzar bet din produce through advance cooperation between rabbis, farmers, and the Israeli government (which assists those who observe Shemittah and potential consumers), and he cautions that if the concern arises that within the entire chain – from the farmers to the consumers - there will not be enough cooperation such that there will again be unwanted surpluses, production of non-'heter mechira' [sale to ameliorate restrictions on working the Land] produce will diminish in Shemittah 5775 [2015], and this would be a bad thing for the Land of Israel and the observance of commandments therein.
The issue concludes with an overview of Judaic materials reviewed by the editor.